Lye Church

The church of Lye is a country church consecrated in the 12th century , which belongs to the parish (swed. Församling ) Guard in the diocese of Visby . It is located near the road 144 from Hemse to Ljugarn , 40 km southeast of Visby , 12 km northeast of Hemse on the Swedish island of Gotland . The church houses the tombstone ( Swedish gravhäll ) G 99 and the tombstone G 100 with runic inscriptions .

Church building

The church consists of a large, straight final choir , a slightly lower nave and a west tower with side galleries. The nave is the oldest part and was built towards the end of the 12th century. The tower is dated to 1240 and the choir to 1325. The current choir replaced an older choir, the appearance and layout of which are unknown. At the same time as the new choir, the sacristy with cross vaults was built and the tower was raised. Since the choir is higher than the nave, this silhouette is called the saddle church .

In the west portal of the tower there is a reliquary box with reliefs by Master Sighraf from the 12th century. It shows a Madonna enthroned on the visible gable side and on the visible long side in four fields: two fighting mythical creatures, two fighting dragons, a warrior and a horse without a rider. The fields 2 to 4 probably represent the fight between Siegfried the dragon slayer and the dragon Fafnir .

The gray limestone font dates from the middle of the 13th century. The altar is dated to 1496 and there is a triumphal cross from the 15th century. The pulpit was made in 1705.

Glass and wall paintings

The church has numerous frescoes from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. These include paintings from the 15th century that are attributed to the so-called Passion Master. In the choir is one of the largest preserved medieval stained glass sequences in Northern Europe. Pictures and windows are an example of the numerous medieval stained glass and wall paintings on Gotland .