Fröjel Church

The Church of Fröjel (Swedish Fröjel kyrka ) is a country church on the Swedish island of Gotland. It belongs to the parish ( swedish församling ) Fröjel and to the diocese of Visby. The fifth church is considered one of the most beautifully situated on Gotland.

Location

The church is located on the west coast of the island, 34 km south of Visby, making it one of the churches on Gotland, which are closest to the sea. It is slightly elevated on a barrier beach with uninterrupted views towards Stora and Lilla Karlsö Karlsö in the West.

Church building

The church is built of limestone. It consists of a terminated by a straight wall with choir vestry in the north, an equal width, but longer nave and a west tower. The tower is supported on its western side by a broad buttresses. The nave has north and south portals, the choir in the south. An original access to the tower is blocked by the longwall working.

The nave of the end of the 12th century is the oldest; it was completed in the first half of the 13th century through the tower. The large choir, which probably replaced an older, and the same old sacristy were built about 1300 as a first step for a never-completed construction of the new church. The facade and the nave consist of ashlar.

The Romanesque nave portals are kept simple. The architecture of the choir is Gothic. The portal has rich architectural moldings with a crowning triangular pediment. The south-facing windows of the choir and the three east windows are still original. The south windows of the nave dates from about 1850.

Inside, the choir is covered by a brick cross vault. The nave is covered by barrel vaults made ​​of wooden segmental arches, which was 1935-1938 inserted as a replacement for a flat inner roof to expose the brick enclosure of the triumphal arch. The part of the tower room, which is connected with the church is covered with a wooden roof.

In the choir there are paintings on the wall from the beginning of the 14th century and a closet with richly decorated doors. The church has a few notable inventory items: The richly decorated with sculptures triumphal cross dates from about 1300 The baptismal font has one foot in the 12th century and a baptismal font with naïve figures of the 14th century. . The pulpit dates from about 1600 with original painted pictures of the Evangelists. The High Altar of sandstone in 1634 made ​​.

Environment

Southeast of the church are the remains of an old castle wall. North of the church are the ruins of a medieval Kastals. The original height of the square tower is unknown. Beam holes on the inside point to several floors. The cemetery has two entrance portals, of which the western together with a piece of the adjacent wall is medieval and dates from the late 13th century. Between the eastern entrance portal and the church is the cemetery innhalb a labyrinth of unknown age, a so-called Troja castle.

Inventory

Triumphal Cross 1300

The altar before the three windows in the choir

Pulpit of about 1600 (? )

The baptismal font from the 12th century from the Master Byzantios, the shell of the 14th century