Medieval churches in Denmark

Reerslev Church

The oldest parts of the Reerslev Church, nave and the chancel, date back to the 12th century and are in the Romanesque style. In the 15th century, a chapel, a vestry and an extension of the nave to the west were added in the late-Gothic style. Cross vaults were also added during this period. The cross vaults were decorated by the Isefjord school around 1450. After the Reformation, they were covered with limewash for cent ...

Founded: 12th century | Location: Hedehusene, Denmark

Skagen Old Church Ruins

Skagen Old church, also called as 'Sand-Covered Church' was built in the 14th century and dedicated to Saint Lawrence of Rome. It was a brick church of considerable size and located 2 km south-west of the town centre. The white church tower is all that is visible of the former church, the rest of it demolished and the neighboring village having been buried under the sand from nearby dunes. The church was named for the pa ...

Founded: 14th century | Location: Skagen, Denmark

Nylars Church

Nylars Church (Nylars Kirke) is a round church built around 1165. The church was dedicated to St Nicholas. Originally designed for a defensive role, the solid structure contains a series of 13th century frescoes, the oldest of Bornholm's four round churches. The three storeys are built of fieldstone and with window and door frames of limestone. The original defensive systems are largely intact. The decorated south door i ...

Founded: ca. 1165 | Location: Aakirkeby, Denmark

Gedesby Church

Gedesby church is built with a longhouse in the Gothic style with with pointed arch windows and a Gothic tower base, of brick in monk bond. Originally the church was crown land, that is royal property until 1767, when it along with the main church in Skelby was sold along with the rest of Falster equestrian goods. The altarpiece of the Dutch wing type from 1573 is pretty and well preserved with a figure rich crucifixion ...

Founded: c. 1350 | Location: Gedser, Denmark

Øster Ulslev Church

Øster Ulslev Church was built around 1225 and the tower was added in 1693. The font dates also from c. 1225 and pulpit from 1625. The altarpiece was painted in 1853.

Founded: c. 1225 | Location: Øster-Ulslev, Denmark

Byrum Church

Byrum Church is the largest in Læsø island. It was built in 1269 by monks of Vitskøl monastery. The Romanesque architecture was later transformed to the Gothic style. The interesting detail is a triptych made around 1450.

Founded: 1269 | Location: Læsø, Denmark

Branderslev Church

Branderslev Church was built in Romanesque style of red (now white washed) bricks around the year 1200. The present wooden bell tower was built in 1744. Altarpiece is of early baroque style from around 1650. On the western side of the nave, there is a special corner from the old days, where pregnant un-married young girls were put on parade.

Founded: c. 1200 | Location: Nakskov, Denmark

Tillitse Church

Tillitse Church was built in the first half of the 13th century and extended towards the west in the early 17th century. Little is known of its ownership in the Middle Ages but the Crown had clerical appointment rights at the time of the Reformation. In 1648, it was transferred to the ownership of the Rudbjerggård Estate where over the years it was governed by F.B. Bülow and Gustav Smith. It came into the owner ...

Founded: c. 1250 | Location: Dannemare, Denmark

Uggeløse Church

Uggeløse Church was built originaly around 1150 and reconstructed in 1330s. The original altar (1597) and pulpit (1629) disappeared in the restoration made in 1841, but the original medieval font still exists.

Founded: c. 1150 | Location: Lynge, Denmark

Jungshoved Church

Jungshoved Church is a Danish romanesque church situated nearby the banks of Stavreby cove, on the place where Jungshoved castle lay in former times. The oldest part of the church is built in the years 1225-1250 in late romanesque style, while the last part of the church is built in the 1500 century in late gothic style. The baptismal font and altarpiece are decorated with reliefs by Bertel Thorvaldsen. The pulpit in Hig ...

Founded: 1225-1250 | Location: Praesto, Denmark

Bjernede Church

Bjernede Church is one of only eight round churches in Denmark and the only one of its kind on the island of Zealand. The present church was built in circa 1170 by Sune Ebbesen from the influential Hvide family who belonged to the circle around King Valdemar II. His father, Ebbe Skjalmsen, the uncle of Bishop Absalon, had previously built a wooden church at the site. The tower of Sune Ebbesen"s round church contains ...

Founded: c. 1170 | Location: Sorø, Denmark

Lille Løjtofte Church

The small Lille Løjtofte Church was built around 1250 and restored in 1799. The church has a valuable and characteristic font, probably made in Gotland. The altarpiece dates from the time of the Danish king Christian IV (1588-1648).The church has no tower; the bell hangs in the gable.

Founded: c. 1250 | Location: Nakskov, Denmark

Østerlars Round Church

Østerlars Church is the largest and, possibly, the oldest of the Bornholm island's four round churches. Built in about 1160, it was dedicated to St. Lawrence. It consists of an apse, an oval chancel, a large round nave and has three storeys. There is evidence the church was once fortified, the top storey serving as an open shooting gallery. The fieldstone wall stands on foundations of Bornholm limestone. The double ...

Founded: ca. 1160 | Location: Gudhjem, Denmark

Aastrup Church

Aastrup Church dates from c. 1200. Built in the Late Romanesque style, it has frescos from the 13th and 15th centuries. The church was dedicated to St Anne although this was probably not its original patron as Anne was not generally known in Denmark until the late Middle Ages. The Crown, which enjoyed clerical appointment rights since before the Reformation, sold the church in 1767 to the parish priest, C. H. Biering. In ...

Founded: c. 1200 | Location: Stubbekobing, Denmark

Tystrup Church

Tystrup Church was built in the first half of 12th century and first mentioned in 1370. The nave and choir were built in Romanesque style. The Gothic tower, porch and sacristy were added later. The vaults date from around 1450. The interior is decorated with mural paintings made around 1450-1475. The Baroque pulpit dates from 1635-1640 and organs from 1860.

Founded: 12th century | Location: Fuglebjerg, Denmark

Braaby Church

The precise date of the Braaby Church"s construction is not known but it was first documented around 1370 when it consisted of the current Romanesque nave and a smaller chancel, both built of limestone blocks. In about 1500, the tower, porch and north chapel were added with decorations consisting of belts of brick and limestone. The present chancel was constructed in c. 1570. After Steward of the Realm Peder Oxe had ...

Founded: 12th century | Location: Haslev, Denmark

Herlufsholm Church

Herlufsholm Church is Denmark's broadest single nave church and was the monastery church for the Woodland Monastery of the Benedictine Order. The church dates back to 1135. When Herluf Trolle and his wife Birgitte Goeye acquired the monastery in 1560, the church was renamed Herlufsholm and it became the area's parish church. In the chapel under the choir, Herluf Trolle and Birgitte Goeye lay buried. They are also remember ...

Founded: 1135 | Location: Næstved, Denmark

Sønder Kirkeby Church

Sønder Kirkeby Church dates from the 12th century, but it was strongly altered during the restoration in 1865.

Founded: 12th century | Location: Nykøbing Falster, Denmark

Skrøbelev Church

Skrøbelev Church was probably built in the 1100s. The church consists of a Romanesque nave, which in the late Gothic period was reconstructed to its present form with the addition of a chancel, tower to the west, vestry to the north and porch to the south. A number of interesting bas reliefs have been preserved on the exterior of the Romanesque part of the church. The mural paintings date back to the late Gothic pe ...

Founded: 12th century | Location: Rudkobing, Denmark

Gundslev Church

Gundslev Church situated 1 km from the town Gundslev, because the village was moved in the 14th century. The church was founded pribably in the 12th century. It has a neat and harmonious appearance, and is constructed of red brick. The interior contains some early frecoes, dating probably from around 1300. They include depictions of the twelve apostles, in good condition, perhaps because they are likely to have offended P ...

Founded: c. 1100 | Location: Nørre Alslev, Denmark