St. Michael (Finström)
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Michael in Finström on the Åland archipelago belonging to Finland is a medieval church with roots dating back to the 12th century. Its current appearance is likely to date from the 15th century. Inside there are numerous medieval furnishings.
history
The age of St. Michael's Church is difficult to determine. During excavations between 1969 and 1970, the remains of a wooden church were found that are believed to date from the end of the 12th century. When the stone church was built is unknown. Everything indicates that the church was extensively rebuilt in the middle of the 15th century. The upper parts of the nave including the vaults were completed in 1450, along with the armory and the sacristy . The tower was built in 1467.
Furnishing
The murals were painted by various masters in 1450. Fragments of older lime paintings can be seen on the choir wall. The lime paintings are unusually well preserved and add to the special beauty and atmosphere in the church. You can see u. a. Apostles with Latin sentences of the creed (" Apostle's Creed ").
Several wooden figures from the Middle Ages can be found in several places in the church. A sculpture from around 1180 with an associated shrine from 1230 depicts the patron saint Michael . The rest of the cultural treasure dates from the middle of the 15th century, such as another sculpture of the Archangel Michael, St. Antonius , the Painful Bearer and St. Erik . The wooden head in the tower vault was carved from Åland pine around 1185.
The altarpiece is from 1460. The main group consists of a Pietà , the dead Redeemer in the arms of his mother, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus . On the left the group is accompanied by St. Michael, St. Ingrid from Skännige and St. Henrik , on the right by St. Georg , St. Birgitta and St. Sigfried .
The triumphal cross probably dates from the first half of the 15th century.
The votive ship was given to the church by boatmen from the north of the parish in 1688.
The pulpit from 1703 is octagonal and has a sound cover .
The choir window consists of a glass painting entitled “World Reconciliation”, a work by Lennart Segerstråle from 1947.
The organ in the choir was built in 1974 by Hans Heinrich . The old organ in the armory is unique from 1768.
literature
- Church leader St. Mikaels kyrka i Finström, no date, no place
Web links
- Information on the Finström-Geta parish website
Coordinates: 60 ° 15 ′ 48.9 ″ N , 19 ° 55 ′ 51.2 ″ E