Sankt Ols Kirke

The Saint - Ols Church, Danish Sankt Ols Kirke is one of the four round churches on the Danish island of Bornholm. Its name from the church after the Norwegian king Olaf the Holy. It is located in Olsker and dates from the 12th century, the exact period is not known. The name of St. Ols church is first mentioned in the testament of Archbishop Niels Johnsen from Feb. 3, 1379. Then the St. Ols Church is to receive a silver spoon.

The round church has three floors, which are surrounded by a fortress-like reinforced outer wall. The outer wall decreases with the central pillar on the ceiling and roof loads. The upper floors are accessible only through narrow, well defensible sunrises. The second floor served as shelters for the population and in times of peace as a storage facility for the farmers. The third level was designed for defense against attackers, pirates who came to the island on the Baltic Sea. In the surrounding masonry, there is a meter wide embrasures, the mural crown was provided with battlements. Above the loopholes are circumferentially 22 holes available, were sent to the cantilever beam to obtain it, a hanging gallery for an additional layer of defense. A flat roof made ​​the cover of the building which was 13 meters high. The Saint - Ols Church is one of the fortified churches of Bornholm. ( The original building structure is shown in longitudinal section in detail. )

The characteristic conical roof was the only round church in the late Middle Ages, it is now 26 m high. The two large outer columns were much later (1826 ) cultivated since the church threatened to slip. The ground is not completely solid. 1934, the foundations were renewed. ( The changed structure of the building with the new conical roof and the retaining walls are shown in a longitudinal section and two cross-sections. )

At the central pillars in the interior of the Round Church are from the original murals only get a few, like the floral embellishments. The pulpit dates from the 16th century and is one of the oldest in the country. At the rotunda includes a choir with an apse. The altarpiece was created in 1950 by the sculptor Gunnar Hansen of ceramic.

Pulpit

Choir, altar

Altarpiece

The church belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark.