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Founded: 12th centuryCategory: Religious sites in Sweden
Historical period: Consolidation (Sweden)
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Hyby Old Church dates back to the 12th century. On September 9, 1873, lightning struck the church, causing a subsequent fire. This accident led to the decision to build a new church not far from the old one. Hyby New Church was completed in 1877. Only the large choir of the old church was preserved, serving as a burial chapel for the noble Trolle family at nearby Klågerups Castle. This noble family had already used the church as a burial place before the fire. There were three coffins for the Trolle youth who drowned at Torup in 1775. In 1940, the coffins in the chapel were considered to be in such poor condition that they needed to be buried. In 1951, the church was restored to its current appearance.
Hyby Old Church was dedicated to St. Nicholas and consisted of a long choir and a nave with two cross vaults. The nave had a portal in the south for men and one in the north for women. During the 18th century, a tower was erected west of the nave and was crowned with a very tall spire.
The walls of the church's nave and its vaults were covered with frescoes. In the so-called 'Prästrelationer' from 1624, there are mentions of depictions of noblemen and coats of arms belonging to families such as Has and Hack in Hyby and Klågerup. Today, only the paintings in the former choir remain.
The remaining choir has two cross vaults, with the western one likely built in connection with the original church and the eastern one added during the 15th century. The vaults are covered with paintings executed by the anonymous Master Harriemästaren around 1500. The vaults feature scenes of Golgotha, the Last Judgment, and a row of apostles. In the south: Peter, Paul, Andrew, James the Elder with a pilgrim's staff, and Philip. In the west: Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, and Jude. In the so-called tribune arch, St. Nicholas, the medieval patron saint of Hyby Church, is depicted.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.