Follingbo Church

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Follingbo Church from the east
Follingbo Church from the west
Follingbo inside

The Church of Follingbo ( Swedish : Follingbo kyrka ) is an architecturally extraordinary example of high-class Romanesque architecture among the country churches on the Swedish island of Gotland . It is located near the place of the same name, 8 km southeast of Visby , near the road 143 from Visby to Roma .

Church building

The nave and steeple of the church, both built around 1200, are examples of classical Romanesque architecture. Their facades consist of even layers of hewn limestone blocks . They come into their own through an arched frieze with discrete pilaster strips running under the roof foot . Portals and windows are set into the walls with sharp contours and a sure sense of proportion. The decoration is limited to ornaments on the capital of the south portal.

A choir with an apse , which was replaced by the current one at the end of the 13th century, is likely to have attached to the nave in the east . Its rich portal decoration, its unusual roof frieze and the sculptural triumphal arch opening give it a special position in Gotland architecture. The altar wall is pierced by a large tracery window in which there are still remnants of medieval stained glass . In the south window there are stained glass from a later period (1588).

The fact that the west gable of the choir was constructed in half-timbering and not as solid masonry indicates that the intention was to continue the renovation with the nave after the construction of the choir. This further construction did not take place, however, so that it is now a saddle church . The sacristy was built in 1821.

interior

The church has no wall paintings . The flat wooden roof in the nave is all the more richly decorated. The roof, like that of the closely related church of Halla , was painted at the end of the 17th century. In the central field, which is surrounded by framing fields with acanthus and cupids, the Trinity and holy figures are shown.

The pulpit is an early 17th century work that originally stood in the Visborg Castle Church . After the transfer to Follingbo in 1684, the fillings of the basket were painted with portraits of the evangelists , in 1744 the stairs were built and in 1750 the canopy was modernized.

On the altar is a splendidly carved and painted altarpiece with a central group of calvaries. It was donated to the church by Mayor Visbys, Carl Hindrich Lange and his wife and made in the 1740s. As in Fardhem, the master was probably Johan Hernell.

The Baptism dates from the Middle Ages. It is of a cup-like shape and was later decorated with decorative painting.

The church stalls, which have been used since the Reformation, mainly date from the 17th century. On the inner bench screens there are figures painted by Abraham Beck in 1707, depicting saints and symbolic figures. Further bench umbrellas with figural paintings are kept in the sacristy .

The organ gallery was built in the 18th century. The evangelists in the panels were painted by Johan Weller in 1771/72. The organ was purchased in 1857.

On the right in the choir hangs an epitaph from 1771, painted by Johan Weller for the pastor's wife Helena Maria Stockman. In the tower there is a modern epitaph for the district chief Lars Söderhielm and his wife. Oil paintings in the tower chamber show the adoration of the shepherds and the mourning of Christ. Both are copies of originals from the 17th century. A picture in the sacristy showing Christ “what he really looked like walking around in human form” (with measurements given) is a copy from 1697.

The church was restored in 1955/56 according to plans by the architect B. Romare.

Web links

Commons : Follingbo kyrka  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Erland Lagerlöf, Gunnar Svahnström: The churches of Gotland. Stein, Kiel 1991, ISBN 3-89392-049-8 .

Coordinates: 57 ° 34 ′ 56.4 ″  N , 18 ° 22 ′ 59 ″  E