Church of the Guard
The stone church of Garde , also Church of Garda ( Swedish Garde kyrka or Garda kyrka ), is located on Gotland and is one of the oldest Swedish churches. In its current form, it dates from the 12th to 14th centuries and replaced a wooden church, of which only the post holes are guaranteed (excavation 1968). The four gates from the old churchyard wall have been preserved.
The church is located near the east coast, 6 km west of Ljugarn and 39 km southeast of Visby .
The longhouse
The more baseless , small porta-wing, archaic Romanesque building is the oldest part of the present church. The stone benches on the long sides also refer to this. A special feature above the western part of the nave is the elegantly decorated medieval roof truss that can be dated to 1140 . The baptismal font set up in the nave was made by the master who was historically named Byzantios . The modest triumphal cross also dates from the 12th century.
The tower
The first church tower built with the nave was extended as early as the 13th century. The arch of the tower, like the western part of the nave, is adorned with frescoes in the Byzantine style. The artist, who is also represented with fragments in the church of Källunge , apparently came from across the Baltic Sea .
The choir and the sacristy
Today's Gothic building, which is significantly higher than the nave - to this extent, it is a form known on Gotland as a saddle church - replaced the Romanesque choir with apse in the 14th century . It was planned as the first phase of a renovation, but it was not continued. Painted wooden epitaphs on the north wall of the choir date from 1661 and 1670. An organ was built here in the 1960s. The pulpit, built in 1662, was painted in 1699. In 1689 an altarpiece made of Burgsvik sandstone was purchased. The stained glass in the east window was created by Randi Fisher in 1974 .
Picture stones in the church
In the cemetery north of the church, a number of Christian burials from the Viking Age (800-1050 AD) were discovered with rich finds. During the restoration of the church, five picture stones or their fragments were found in the floor . These included those of the older and younger groups. One of the older picture stones shows a beautiful vortex wheel and two horse-like animals, facing each other in lively motion. According to Peter Nylén, they represent a modification of the old motif “conflict between good and evil”: a stallion hunt that, in addition to its religious and magical character, served as a drama.
literature
- Marita Jonsson, Sven-Olof Lindquist: Gotland cultural guide. Almqvist & Wiksell, Uppsala 1993, ISBN 91-88036-09-X , page 165.
- Erland Lagerlöf, Gunnar Svahnström: The churches of Gotland. Stein, Kiel 1991, ISBN 3-89392-049-8 , pages 142-144
- Marianne Mehling (Ed.): Knaurs Culture Guide in Color Sweden. Droemer Knaur, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-426-26243-6 .
- Erik Nylén , Jan Peder Lamm: Picture stones on Gotland. 2nd expanded and completed German edition. Wachholtz, Neumünster 1991, ISBN 3-529-01823-6 .
Web links
- guteinfo (Swedish, with pictures)
- PaGotland ( Memento from August 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (Swedish)
- Building register at Riksantikvarieämbetet (Swedish)
- Garda kyrka at the Swedish Church (Swedish)
Coordinates: 57 ° 19 ′ 1.7 ″ N , 18 ° 34 ′ 55.4 ″ E