Medieval churches in Denmark
Skibinge Church
The beautiful whitewashed Skibinge church stands on the top of a hill in the outskirts of Skibinge. It was built in the 12th century, and the porch and the tower was added after the 15th centrury. The interior is decorated with a late Gothic pulpit from about 1500 and a beautiful altarpiece from 1669.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Præstø, Denmark
Sebber Priory
Sebber Priory was established between 1250 and 1268 as a house for Benedictine nuns. The priory was dedicated to St. Lawrence. Its founding details are uncertain; it may have begun as an Augustinian house. One question about Sebber Priory has always been why it was located on the coast in such an isolated location. It appears that Sebber was already a village in Viking times, a trading place for ships plying the Limfjord ...
Founded: c. 1250 |
Location:
Nibe, Denmark
Magleby Church
Magleby Church was originally built in the Romanesque style in the second half of the 13th century. The rounded tops of bricked-in windows from this period can still be seen on either side of the nave. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the church was converted to the Gothic style with cross vaults, Gothic windows and a number of additions and extensions. The tower which dates back to the older parts of the church originally ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Borre, Denmark
Grindsted Church
Grindsted Church was built in the 1100s and enlarged around 1300. A granite ashlar and brick porch was added to the south door of the nave in the 1500s.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Grindsted, Denmark
Østofte Church
Østofte Church was built in the 14th century. The Romanesque apse, chancel and nave formed the original building while the tower and porch were added in the Late-Gothic period and the north wing was completed in 1656. The church was dedicated to St Peter, probably in 1345. King Christopher of Bavaria transferred ownership to Maribo Abbey as first documented in 1451. That ownership remained after the Reformation wh ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Nørreballe, Denmark
Havnbjerg Church
Havnbjerg Church is a 12th century Romanesque stone church. Tower and spire date from 1857. The bells date from 1370 and 1920. The altarpiece is a painting by C.W.Eckersberg. In the wall of the choir is a so-called piscina - a basin designed for liturgical handwashing. The pulpit is late Renaissance and the baptismal font has a Romanesque top. The organ has 20 stops. The churchyard has soldiers" graves from 1848 and ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Nordborg, Denmark
Oksbøl Church
Oksbøl Church has Romanesque origins with Gothic tower and porch. A Gothic triptych altarpiece dates from the beginning of the 15th century, a Baroque/Renaissance pulpit from 1626 and wooden font from about 1700.
Founded: c. 1100 |
Location:
Nordborg, Denmark
St. Knud's Church
St. Knud’s is a traditional old village church, situated some distance to the east of Rønne town centre. It was built around the year 1150. It is the smallest church on Bornholm. The little church’s interior is of slightly more recent provenance - the altar dating from the 17th century and the interior decoration from the 18th.
Founded: ca. 1150 |
Location:
Rønne, Denmark
Gundsømagle Church
Gundsømagle Church was completed around the year 1100. The pulpit is from about 1610. The vicar"s stull was made by Caspar Lubbeke in 1657. The frescoes in the chancel arches date from the 12th century.
Founded: c. 1100 |
Location:
Roskilde, Denmark
Ruth's Church
Ruth's Church (Ruts Kirke) was built in the early 13th century in the Romanesque style. Situated on a hilltop 130 m above sea level, it is the island's highest-standing church. The oldest reference to the church dates from 1490 where Sancti Michelssogen (St Michael's Parish) is mentioned. The church was initially consecrated as St Michael's, possibly because of its high location. By 1621, the name had become Ruth's Church ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Hasle, 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
Holeby Church
Holeby Church was built in the mid-1200s. Its Romanesque architecture is more simple than in other churches in Lolland island. The most notable inventory is a so-called Holeby Crucifix from the 1300s, which is today located at Maribo Museum. The unusually big baptismal font was made in Gotland. The pulpit dates from 1586 and altar from 1590. It is also known that the preceding altar depicted St. John Chrysostom and the ch ...
Founded: c. 1250 |
Location:
Holeby, Denmark
Errindlev Church
Errindlev Church dates from the second half of the 12th century. It has a Romanesque chancel and nave. The church is said to have been dedicated to St Nicholas because of its associations with seafarers who used it as a landmark. After the Reformation it belonged to the Crown until in 1699 it was transferred to Flemming Holck til Lungholm whose estate was acquired by Christian Detlev Reventlow. As a result, it later came ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Errindlev, Denmark
Sandby Church
Sandby Church dates from the middle of the 13th century and it has a Romanesque chancel and nave and a Late Gothic tower. Little is known of the church"s early history other than the Crown had clerical appointment rights before the Reformation. It remained under the Crown until 1679 when it was transferred to the episcopal authority of Funen. In 1726, it passed into the ownership of the Danneskiold-Samsøe til ...
Founded: c. 1250 |
Location:
Harpelunde, Denmark
Bredstrup Church
Bredstrup Church dates from the late Romanesque period. The tower is from the late Gothic period. Only the porch is more recent, from the 1800s. The baptismal font is from the Romanesque period, the altarpiece in the late Baroque style is from 1600s. The expressive altar painting is a gift to the church painted by N. Larsen Stevns, 1920. The current font is from Kongsted Church. The pulpit is in Renaissance style and from ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Fredericia, Denmark
Gårslev Church
Gårslev church was founded in the 12th century and rebuilt several times of stones and bricks.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Børkop, Denmark
Kliplev Church
Kliplev Church was church was built in the 15th century and early 16th century to the site of older Romanesque church. The rebuilding took place because the church was a pilgrimage church and the old building got too small. It was torn down and a new one has been built around 1450, now in the Gothic style. The bell tower, from approximately 1300, is on of the oldest bell towers in Denmark.
Founded: c. 1450 |
Location:
Aabenraa, Denmark
Lejrskov Church
Lejrskov Church was built in the Romanesque style in the 12th century. The porch and tower were added around 1525-1550. The church got its current appearance in 1764 restoration. The font, altarpiece and pulpit date from the 1500s.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Kolding, 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
Rise Church
Rise Church was built in the late 12th century in Romanesque style. It has been enlarged twice, latter in 1697. The triptych was made between 1300-1450 and Renaissance pulpit in 1624.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Ærøskøbing, Denmark