Tuna Church is a medieval church located north-east of Uppsala. The church was probably built at the end of the 13th century, with the church porch and sacristy being later medieval extensions. The interior of the church was altered in the 15th century, when a vaulted ceiling replaced an earlier, wooden ceiling. The church was heavily renovated in the 1890s, when the medieval frescos were uncovered and insensitively restored. They were originally probably made by a local artist. The wooden belfry of the church was built in 1768.
The design of the church is typical for north-eastern Uppland, but the unusual use of brick rather than fieldstone as building material as well as the placement of the entrance at the western gable indicates influences from the type of architecture popular among mendicant orders.
The church still contains several medieval items: a couple of wooden sculptures of saints (including Bridget of Sweden), a decorated baptismal font and a paten of gilded copper. Other, post-Reformation furnishings include the pulpit (1674) and an richly decorated chasuble from 1662.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.