Fogdö Church

Description

Fogdö Church was built in the 1100s and has wooden sculptures from that time. There was a Benedictine nunnery from 1233. The church was used both as a parish church and as a monastic one, as is testified by an inset opening in the south wall - a so-called 'nun's window' ('nunneporten'). The quire was also widened so as better to accommodate the nuns' choral liturgy. Judging from the surviving walls, the services of a builder trained in the Cistercian style were obtained for the project.

After 50 years the nuns moved again to the present Kungsberg (3 km east of Fogdö), where they were able to have built a full monastic complex in accordance with the Cistercian principles of monastery construction and layout. The new buildings were put into operation in 1289 and the monastery was known as Vårfruberga Abbey.

Fogdö Church was however used as parish church. The tower was added in the 16th century and the chapel of Posse på Bergshammar family in the 17th century. The interior is decorated with murals, made by so-called Fogdö Master in the first half of 1400s. the pulpit dates from 1642.