St. Mary's Church

Sønderborg, Denmark

The St. Mary's Church in Sønderborg is located on a hill and is a very iconic for the city. In the Middle Ages there was a leper colony on a hill just outside the city. It was named after Saint George and around 1300 the chapel of this leper colony stood in the place of the present St. Mary's Church. After the old parish church of the city, the St. Nicholas Church, was demolished around 1530, the Saint-George chapel became the new main church. Towards the end of the 16th century, John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg commissioned the enlargement of the building in order to make it suitable for the function of the parish church of his city.

In 1595 a start was made on the partial demolition of the old church and the construction of the new church. Only parts of the old medieval church remained. From the medieval church, a medieval wooden wall cupboard dating from about 1400 remained. The solemn inauguration of the new parish church took place just before Christmas in 1600. In 1649 the George Church was renamed as the Mary Church.

References:

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 1595-1600
Category: Religious sites in Denmark
Historical period: Early Modern Denmark (Denmark)

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Otto Jørgensen (11 months ago)
Super
Lasse Hansen (15 months ago)
A very beautiful church, worth a visit.
Dieter Knausenberger (3 years ago)
Next to the castle, Sønderborg's St. Mary's Church is a must-see. The church was consecrated in 1600. On the side walls are remarkable 17th-century carved wooden epitaphs. The gallery with the richly decorated Bible verses is just as impressive. The colored windows in the sanctuary were created by the famous Danish artist Per Kirkeby from 2007 and inaugurated in 2011. Incidentally, his works of art are exhibited at the MoMa in New York, the Tate Modern in London and the Center Pompidou in Paris. The artist passed away in 2018.
Inge Glud (3 years ago)
Beautiful church
Ulla Henriksen (3 years ago)
Nice church, nice with parking
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater

The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.

The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.

Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.