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Steve Fennell (7 years ago)
Extremely welcoming and a good cuppa to
Extremely welcoming and a good cuppa to
Cill Chriosd (Christ's Church or 'Kilchrist') is a ruined former parish church. The location is thought to have a heritage of Christian worship dating back to the 7th century, when St. Mael Ruba preached from nearby. The original Parish church for Strath was located at Ashiag, and was founded by St Mael Ruba in the 7th Century AD; the new parish church was relocated to this location in the later Middle Ages. The present ruined church probably replaced the first medieval stone church in the 16th century. Written records for the church date back to 1505.
The ruins of the church lie at the top of a small mound, surrounded by the graveyard. Records from 1913 show that there were a pair of unusual gravemarkers in the graveyard - one dedicated to Chief Lachlan Mor and carrying 'obscure hieroglyphics', the other possibly dating from the pre-Christian era. However, both have since vanished. Most graves are connected to Clan MacKinnon, and are from the 18th and 19th centuries. One memorial, in the inner wall of the burial enclosure, is for 'Charles Third', who was apparently born in Corry near Broadford as a MacKinnon but later died in Australia after emigrating. A worn medieval slab carved with an ornate cross is located in the south corner of the graveyard.
The churchyard also has an amorial stone, as well as a possible fragment of the necking and lower arms of a crude cross, with one side plane and the other side bearing two animals carved into a relief on the lower portion. The graveyard also contains a slab of slate with a foliated cross, with one side preserved but the other side worn away.
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.