Nylars Church

The Nylars Church, Danish Nylars Kirke is one of the four round churches on the Danish island of Bornholm, in the place Nylars. It was named ( 1335 ) after St. Nicholas. ( The old Danish name for Nicholas was Nilaus, from which the name originated Nylars. )

Building and history

The building dates from the mid-12th century, a precise date is not known.

The round church is surrounded by a fortress-like reinforced outer wall; with the central pillar they take to the floor and roof loads.

The building has three levels. The lowest level is the church ( the round ship) with an inner diameter of 11 m. The two upper floors are accessible only through narrow, well defensible sunrises. The second floor was used as a protective space for the population and in peacetime as a storeroom for the farmers. The third level was designed for defense against attackers, pirates who came to the island on the Baltic Sea. A reconstruction of Charles Christensen from 1939 shows the Nylars Church as fortified church, the top (third) level has an encircling parapet and above rose two more platforms.

The characteristic conical roof was the only round church in the late Middle Ages. She had, in contrast to the other two round churches, which are Østerlars Church and St. Ols Church, not provided with powerful outer retaining walls and thus keep its structure their masonry. The present building structure is presented in three sections and a longitudinal section in detail.

In the anteroom of 1879, there are two rune-stones.

Church interior

Church Around ship

Interior of the Church

Choir and apse

Pulpit ( in the background the consecration cross)

The church belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark.

Frescoes

The central pillar is painted with frescoes, which date back to about 1250. They show the scenes of the creation of Adam and Eve until the expulsion from paradise.

The Creation of Eve

The Tree of Knowledge

The Fall

God rebukes Adam and Eve

Expulsion from Paradise