Medieval churches in Sweden

Väte Church

Väte Church was built of stone during the 1300s and is one of the largest in Gotland. It consists of thee naves with arches, sacristy and chancel the north side. The chancel with vestry was built around 1300. The nave is considered to originate from the master Egypticus or his workshop. The triumph crucifix originate from the earlier church (made around 1200) and the baptismal font was carved by master Byzantios in ...
Founded: ca. 1300 | Location: Gotland, Sweden

Västra Tunhem Church

The oldest parts of Västa Tunhem Church date from the 12th century, but it has been rebuilt several times. It was enlarged in the 15th century and again in 1736-1740. The current tower was added in 1810. The font dates from the 13th century and pulpit from 1654. The altar and roof paintings were made in 1740-1755.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Västra Tunhem, Sweden

Värmdö Church

Värmdö Church from the 14th century was originally dedicated to St. Olaf. The parish was first mentioned in 1314 and the church in 1323. The construction was probably supported and donated by Fleming family. The church has been enlarged several times and called also as 'cathedral of archipelago'. The belfry was completed in 1809 and is third one on the site. The crucifix dates from the 14th century an ...
Founded: c. 1323 | Location: Värmdö, Sweden

Hällestad Church

Hällestad church was built of stone in the 12th century. It was enlarged in the 15th century and the tower was erected probably in the late Middle Ages. The church was restored and enlarged in the mid-1800s. There are mural paintings from the 1400s in the vaults, made by so-called “Vittskövle Master”. Three Viking age runestones are located to the eastern wall outside the church.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Torna-hällestad, Sweden

St. Gertrud’s Church

St. Gertrud’s Church was built in the 1450s after King Eric of Pomerania had ordered to move the town of Västervik from Gamleby to the present location. The city and the Stegeholm castle were destroyed in a battle in 1517 and inhabitants moved back to the old city. After King Gustav Vasa ordered them to move back, the church was restored as a Lutheran church. It was once again destroyed in 1612 during the battl ...
Founded: 1450s | Location: Västervik, Sweden

Endre Church

The present Endre church was preceded by an older, Romanesque church. Of this church, only the tower, built in the 12th century, remains. A few stone sculptures have also been re-used in the later church, e.g. one sculpture depicting a dragon and another a lion. These are now immured in the southern façade of the church. The rest of the church dates from the 13th century (the choir and sacristy) and the early 14th (the n ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Endre, Sweden

Stenkumla Church

The oldest part of the Stemkumla church is the tower. It was erected at the beginning of the 13th century. Originally it was attached to a Romanesque church dating from the 12th century, but this was replaced with the current church in stages. The choir thus dates from the middle of the 13th century, while the nave of the church was built at the beginning of the 14th century. The church has remained largely unaltered sinc ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Stenkumla, Sweden

Vreta Abbey

Vreta Abbey was the first nunnery in Sweden, initially Benedictine and later Cistercian, and one of the oldest in Scandinavia. The exact year of the foundation is not known. The abbey was founded by King Inge the Elder of Sweden and Queen Helena on the orders of Pope Paschal II, which gives a date range for the foundation: Paschal became pope in 1099; the date of Inge"s death is disputed, but probably occurred around ...
Founded: ca. 1100 | Location: Vreta Kloster, Sweden

Alva Church

The oldest parts of Alva Church are the choir and the apse, dating from the early 13th century. To this the nave was added during the late part of the same century. Construction of the broad tower started about a hundred years later but was never finished; hence the somewhat squat appearance of the church today. It seems in fact that construction of the church came to a rapid end: apart from the half-finished tower, the m ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Hemse, Sweden

Ardre Church

The oldest part of the Ardre Church is the tower, dating from about 1200. The tower originally belonged to an earlier church building from the 12th century, the nave and choir of which was replaced with the current building circa 1250. The sculptured choir portal originally also belonged to the earlier church. The interior of the church was heavily remodelled after plans by artist Axel Herman Hägg in 1900-1902, in a ...
Founded: c. 1200 | Location: Ljugarn, Sweden

Atlingbo Church

The foundations of Atlingbo church originate from the 12th century and it is one of the oldest in Gotland. The present church building was erected during the 13th century. Its chancel has Gothic style apsidal plan. The altar dates from the 17th century and benches from the 18th century. The pulpit was made by Rasmus Felderman in 1693. The octagonal sandstone font dates from the 12th century and it is made by master ' ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Romakloster, Sweden

Lundby Old Church

The Lundby Old Church is one of the seven preserved medieval churches in Gothenburg, and the only one of them representing Gothic architecture. The church was probably build in the late 14th century. Its Romanesque baptismal font, however, comes from an older wooden church that had existed in the same place and whose remains were not discovered until the early 20th century. Since the mid-17th century, when the bell tower ...
Founded: 14th century | Location: Gothenburg, Sweden

Gammelgarn Church

The chancel and middle nave of the Gammelgarn Church were built in the early 1300s. The fortified tower date from the previous church built in the 1200s. The southern portal is beautifully decorated with mural paintings, made probably by master Fabulator. A pulpit was probably carved by the carpenter master Jochim Sterling from Visby in the 17th century.
Founded: 13th century | Location: Katthammarsvik, Sweden

Hemse Church

The current stone church in Hemse dates mainly from the 13th century. However, about a century earlier there was a stave church built at the same location. The surprisingly well-preserved stave church was found by chance under the floor of the stone church during a restoration in 1896, where the wooden planks of the church had served as an earlier floor. The wooden church, known as Hemse stave church, is the most well-pre ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Hemse, Sweden

Stora Herrestad Church

Stora Herrestad Church was built in the first half of 12th century to the Romanesque style. It has been enlarged and the tower added later. The baptismal font was carved of sandstone and dates from the early 1200s.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Ystad, Sweden

Raus Church

Raus Church was completed in the mid-1100s and is one of the best preserved medieval churches in Scania. The nave was enlarged in the 1400s and belfry rebuilt in 1782. The altar, made of oak, dates from 1624. The richly carved Renaissance pulpit was made also in the 1600s.
Founded: c. 1150 | Location: Helsingborg, Sweden

Naverstad Church

Naverstad Church, one of the oldest and most notable in the county, is built in stone and the oldest part - the choir - dates from the mid-12th century. The tower was added in 1669 and damaged twice during the 18th century - by an earthquake and then by lightning. A separate belfry was built in 1746. An oak sculpture from the 14th century represents the Virgin Mary. The altar and pulpit are 17th century. The 17th century ...
Founded: c. 1150 | Location: Bullaren, Sweden

Stora Tuna Church

The medieval church of former Stora Tuna municipality was built in 1469 as the three-nave cathedral. During the years 1557-1568, three priests with bishop title worked in the church. After that Dalarna and Västerås dioceses were joined and the church remained as one of the largest parish churches in Sweden. The 86m high tower was erected in 1917. The church contains many valuable artefacts including a fine 16th century ...
Founded: 1469 | Location: Borlänge, Sweden

Ala Church

Ala Church was originally built in the 12th century as so-called apse chapel, a small round building. The tower and present apsis were added around 1250. The interior was destroyed by fire in 1938. Some frescos were restored later. The limestone font, made in the mid-1200s, survived from fire and the pulpit (1663) was moved from Björke Church.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Ala, Sweden

Backen Church

Backenkyrkan or Backen Church is the oldest church in Umeå. There was a wooden church probably already in the 13th century. In the late 1400s the archbishop of Uppsala ordered to replace it with a stone church. The current church was built between 1501-1508. Backenkyrkan was damaged badly by fire in 1893 and again in 1986, when the wooden interior was completely destroyed. The church was restored and reinaugurated in 199 ...
Founded: 1501-1508 | Location: Umeå, Sweden

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Palazzo Colonna

The Palazzo Colonna is a palatial block of buildings built in part over ruins of an old Roman Serapeum, and has belonged to the prestigious Colonna family for over twenty generations.

The first part of the palace dates from the 13th century, and tradition holds that the building hosted Dante in his visit to Rome. The first documentary mention notes that the property hosted Cardinal Giovanni and Giacomo Colonna in the 13th century. It was also home to Cardinal Oddone Colonna before he ascended to the papacy as Martin V (1417–1431).

With his passing, the palace was sacked during feuds, and the main property passed into the hands of the Della Rovere family. It returned to the Colonna family when Marcantonio I Colonna married Lucrezia Gara Franciotti Della Rovere, the niece of pope Julius II. The Colonna"s alliance to the Habsburg power, likely protected the palace from looting during the Sack of Rome (1527).

Starting with Filippo Colonna (1578–1639) many changes have refurbished and create a unitary complex around a central garden. Architects including Girolamo Rainaldi and Paolo Marucelli labored on specific projects. Only in the 17th and 18th centuries were the main facades completed. Much of this design was completed by Antonio del Grande (including the grand gallery), and Girolamo Fontana (decoration of gallery). In the 18th century, the long low facade designed by Nicola Michetti with later additions by Paolo Posi with taller corner blocks (facing Piazza Apostoli) was constructed recalls earlier structures resembling a fortification.

The main gallery (completed 1703) and the masterful Colonna art collection was acquired after 1650 by both the cardinal Girolamo I Colonna and his nephew the Connestabile Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna and includes works by Lorenzo Monaco, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Palma the Elder, Salviati, Bronzino, Tintoretto, Pietro da Cortona, Annibale Carracci (painting of The Beaneater), Guercino, Francesco Albani, Muziano and Guido Reni. Ceiling frescoes by Filippo Gherardi, Giovanni Coli, Sebastiano Ricci, and Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari celebrate the role of Marcantonio II Colonna in the battle of Lepanto (1571). The gallery is open to the public on Saturday mornings.

The older wing of the complex known as the Princess Isabelle"s apartments, but once housing Martin V"s library and palace, contains frescoes by Pinturicchio, Antonio Tempesta, Crescenzio Onofri, Giacinto Gimignani, and Carlo Cesi. It contains a collection of landscapes and genre scenes by painters like Gaspard Dughet, Caspar Van Wittel (Vanvitelli), and Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Along with the possessions of the Doria-Pamphilij and Pallavacini-Rospigliosi families, this is one of the largest private art collections in Rome.

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