Ala Church

The Church of Ala ( Ala kyrka Swedish ) is a country church, which belongs to the parish (Swedish Församling ) Östergarn. It is located at the junction of the road 146 Slite from the road 143 from Visby to Ljugarn, 31 km south-east of Visby, 10 km north of Ljugarn and 34 km south of Slite on the Swedish island of Gotland.

The church was built in the 12th century.

Church building

The church was initially a church apse, which means that the choir graduated with a semicircular apse. In the 1250 -ies the steeple was rebuilt and similar to other churches disappeared in the same time the apse. The choir was extended. The interior consists of a hall-like space in which the nave is separated from the equally large number of choral only by the triumphal arch wall. The church was damaged by fire in 1938 but rebuilt. Along with the restoration of two hidden murals were discovered in the 13th century and 15th century. The baptismal font dates from the 13th century. From the oldest church also two portals are obtained, which are decorated with sculptures whose meanings are unknown today.

Similar to other older Gotland churches there is a Passion frieze depicting the suffering Jesus. It was in the 15th century by an anonymous painter who under the pseudonym Master Passion (Swedish: Passionsmästaren ) created today is known. The church contains an altar from 1663, which was painted by the painter to the town of Visby Johan Bartsch and is a loan from the Museum of Gotland Fornsal in Visby.