Bjäresjö Church
The Church of Bjäresjö ( Swedish Bjäresjö kyrka ) is a late Viking Age church in southern Sweden . It is located in the middle of the village Bjäresjö northwest of Ystad in Skåne .
St. Laurentius in Bjäresjö is one of the oldest churches in Sweden. The nave and apse date from around 1100 AD. Their size suggests that the small place must have been important once. It is believed that wealthy landowners financed the building because the church is unusually lavish for a country church.
The oldest church treasure is the baptismal font, made by the stonemason Tove in 1180, who also designed the baptismal font in Lyngsjö and signed it in Gumlösa church with the words: Tove gierhi ("Tove made me"). The pictures show scenes from the life of Jesus: his birth, his coronation and his baptism.
In the choir and apse of the church, medieval frescoes from around 1220 with scenes from the Old and New Testament were uncovered. The frescoes show Byzantine influences in the style . The wall paintings of the Snårestad master (Swedish: Snårestadsmästaren) in the nave date from the 14th century.
In the tympanum of the west portal there is a representation of Christ with a book with the Greek letters Alpha and Omega.
The Bjärsjöholms slott and the Hunnestad monument were nearby .
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Coordinates: 55 ° 27 ′ 45.1 ″ N , 13 ° 45 ′ 0 ″ E