Ekeby Church (Gotland)

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Ekeby Church
Ekeby Church general view
Church of Ekeby (Ekeby kyrka) on Gotland, general view from the north

The Church of Ekeby ( Swedish Ekeby kyrka ) is a country church on the Swedish island of Gotland . It belongs to the parish (Swedish församling ) Dalhem in the Diocese of Visby .

location

The church is located inland just north of the center of Gotland, 14 km east of Visby , 10.5 km north of Roma and 21 km southwest of Slite . The church and a few courtyards are on one level near a major crossroads.

Church building

The church is made of limestone and consists of a recently completed choir , a nave and a narrow, high tower in the west and a sacristy in the north wall of the choir. The portals are on the south sides of the nave and choir and on the west side of the tower. The church has a small Romanesque portal in the west and two large Gothic portals in the south. The Gothic portals have a powerful architecture with multiple fits and arches with lots of ribs and decorated capitals . There are still original windows in the east and south. In the south-west corner of the nave there is a small ogival window above the gallery, which may have already been replaced. In the east wall of the choir there are three interconnected windows, while in the south wall there is a large window with original tracery.

history

Today's unified church is not the first in this place. The lower part of the tower belongs to a Romanesque stone church from the 12th century. With the exception of the tower, this was torn down at the end of the 13th century and replaced by today's choir and nave. At the same time, or possibly at the beginning of the 14th century, the tower was expanded to its present height, with brick gables in each direction and a spire. The gables are broken through by sound openings in two levels with columns and tracery . The sacristy was built in 1923–1925.

inner space

Ekeby Church (Ekeby kyrka): interior view of the choir

The interior is one of the most colorful of Gotland's churches. The room is characterized by an enormous spatiality. The almost square choir is covered by a brick vault and the nave is covered by two vaults that are stretched between the outer walls. The choir and nave are almost the same height and the wide triumphal arch connects them more than divides them.

Paintings

Christ the ruler of the world. Gothic wall painting (detail)

On the walls there are medieval and modern frescoes and in the window there are three panes with stained glass from the end of the 13th century.

The medieval wall paintings are an example of the rich tradition of wall paintings on Gotland .

In a niche in the north wall of the choir there is also a well-preserved figural painting on wood from the time the choir was built. There is also an opening to an original staircase in the north wall of the choir. The rich and well-preserved painting of the facility dates from the 1740s.

The modern large drapery paintings and the gothic-style blind window on the north wall, which was painted for symmetry, were painted by Jonas Gustaf Möller in 1802–1803 .

Furnishing

  • The Romanesque font shows relief scenes that are difficult to interpret. They have similarities with the works of the master stonemasons Majestatis and Hegvald .
  • The triumphal cross dates from the end of the 12th century and hangs in the triumphal arch.
  • In the choir there is a sacrament house with paintings.
  • The banking equipment dates from the 17th century and has different heights on the male and female side.
  • The pulpit dates from 1741.
  • The organ was built in 1862 by ON Lindkvist from Visby. It has six registers , a manual and pedals . In 1953 it was renovated and rescheduled by Andreas Thulesius from Klintehamn . In 1982 the organs were renovated again by Finn Krohn's Orgelbyggeri and given a new console.

Surroundings

  • The churchyard wall has a portal in the northeast corner that is likely medieval but was later rebuilt.

literature

  • Våra kyrkor. Klarkullens förlag, Västervik 1990, ISBN 91-971561-0-8 , p. 678 (Swedish).
  • Erland Lagerlöf, Gunnar Svahnström: The churches of Gotland. Stein, Kiel 1991, ISBN 3-89392-049-8 , pp. 115-117.

Web links

Commons : Church of Ekeby  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 57 ° 35 ′ 42.5 "  N , 18 ° 30 ′ 52.8"  E