Solna Church

Stockholm, Sweden

The medieval church of Solna is a so-called round church. The oldest part of the church, the roundhouse, originates from the late 12th century, and was especially built for defense purposes. Attached to this round center is a weaponhouse (south), a rectangular choir to the east, and a rectangular nave to the west. North of the choir is the sacristy, and to the east an octagonal grave choir. There is a second grave choir on the south side of the nave. The roundhouse (central tower) is covered by a tall cupola, which dominates the appearance of the church. The choir was added in the 13th century. The oldest part of the nave is from the 14th century, and was extended during the 15th century, when the weaponhouse and sacristy were built.

The church achieved large parts of its interior under the patronage of Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie. In 1674 the western portal was added, a sculptured portal originally constructed for Karlbergs slott in 1637, and moved to Solna church in 1674. In 1708 Queen Ulrika Eleonora commissioned a grave choir dedicated to count Tomas Polus. The roof was destroyed in a fire in 1723, and the current cupola was built after this incident. The Lange grave choir was constructed in the 1780s. In 1883 the church was given a roof of copper plates. A major restoration took place in 1928 under supervision of architect Erik Fant, when the church's medieval paintings were recovered. The medieval murals from ca. 1440 are attributed to Albertus Pictor.

The choir is dominated by the altar centre-piece, sculpted in wood in 1666 by Hans Jerling. The centre-piece frames two oil paintings with biblical motifs, and is crowned by a wood-sculptured Madonna from the late 16th century, while the altar is made of brick and covered by a limestone plate.

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Details

Founded: 12th century
Category: Religious sites in Sweden
Historical period: Consolidation (Sweden)

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.7/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Maria S (4 years ago)
Time for thought and peace
Per Einarsson (5 years ago)
It was a small nice church that was very compact. Solna cemetery is also very nice. My brother-in-law got his funeral there. I hope he was satisfied with the choice of place.
Hans Bjorkman (5 years ago)
A church older than the city of Stockholm. One of the oldest buildings in the entire Stockholm area. Originally a round church with walls of impressive thickness. Albertus Pictor's school is now saying paintings attributed to him. The paintings were only carried out in the summer so the season was short and you probably needed several to make it happen. I have tried to depict as many as possible here. Like so many other churches, this is also built and rebuilt a number of times. Window windows have become large windows and nowadays there is also a lift in the church.
Sven-Olov Persson (5 years ago)
Had not found without this info ...
Björn Claesson (6 years ago)
Fin liten kyrka med mångårig historia, värd ett besök.
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