Gothem Church
The Church of Gothem ( Swedish Gothem kyrka ) is a country church that belongs to the parish (Swedish församling ) Gothem on the Swedish island of Gotland . They are 27 km east of Visby near the east coast of the island.
Church building
The church is one of the finest churches on Gotland. The oldest parts, the choir with the apse and the sacristy , date from the beginning of the 13th century. The construction of the tower began towards the end of the 13th century and was completed in the middle of the 14th century by the stone master "Egypticus" , who also created the church towers in Dalhem , Öja , Rone and Stänge. In the middle of the 20th century, the tower was destroyed by lightning and then rebuilt in a slightly changed shape and five meters lower.
In front of the church are the ruins of a fortified tower from the late 12th century. Adjacent is the portal of the medieval rectory.
Church from the outside
Defense tower and entrance on the tower side
Side portal
Portal of the medieval rectory
Church seen through the portal of the medieval rectory
inner space
The interior is richly decorated with frescoes from the 14th century. A German artist has painted a frieze on which you can see pictures from the childhood of Jesus and the passion. The interior of the church was restored in 2006/2007. In the process, previously overpainted lime paintings were exposed. The most notable image found shows the Pope, Jesus and Mohammed, which, in connection with the cartoon debate, received some media attention.
Remains of an older stone church were found under the church. The church also stands on the remains of a defensive tower ruin from the 12th century.
The picture stone
In front of the altar of the church is a very large, badly worn stone . The huge hewn block was probably chosen for its width and smooth face. What is remarkable is not its location - in the church of Väskinde there are parts of a giant stone in the same place (height more than 355 cm) - but its picture content. The pictures, which have only survived in fragments, differ from everything that has survived from the richly varied pictorial stone art. One or more ships have been depicted on the stone, at least one of which shows patterned sails. Disc-shaped objects standing on cones under the sail and on the slender hull may represent shields. The damaged wickerwork pattern below probably suggests the peaks of the waves from an agitated sea.
Long house with Gothic painting
Pulpit from 1709
Choir stalls from the 14th century with the five wise virgins
Baptismal font
literature
- Marita Jonsson, Sven-Olof Lindquist: Gotland cultural guide. Almqvist & Wiksell, Uppsala 1993, ISBN 91-88036-09-X , p. 93.
- Erland Lagerlöf, Gunnar Svahnström: The churches of Gotland. Stein, Kiel 1991, ISBN 3-89392-049-8 , pp. 145-147.
- 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)
- Orgelanders (Swedish)
- PaGotland ( Memento from August 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (Swedish)
- Building register at Riksantikvarieämbetet (Swedish)
Coordinates: 57 ° 34 ′ 31.7 ″ N , 18 ° 44 ′ 6.3 ″ E