Anga Church ( sv, Anga kyrka) is a 13th century church in

Anga Anga (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The members of the Aṅga tribe were called the Āṅgeyas. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts ...

on the Swedish island of

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to ...

. It is one of the most well-preserved Romanesque churches on Gotland, and was possibly preceded by a stave church. Inside, the church is decorated with medieval murals from three different periods, as well as some medieval furnishings. Some wooden sculptures from the church are today exhibited in a museum in Visby. The church belongs to the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

and lies within the Diocese of Visby.

History and architecture

Anga Church takes its name from a now vanished farmstead, mentioned in a runestone inscription at the end of the 11th century. The first church was probably built as a church for the large farm. During archaeological excavations carried out in 1946–1947, traces of burnt wood were found, indicating that the first church may have been a

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ar ...

. The presently visible Romanesque church was built during the 13th century. Thanks to dendrochronological investigations of still intact wooden details, the church can be dated quite precisely. The

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

and

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

were built circa 1215, and are the oldest parts of the church. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

dates from 1250 and the tower from 1265. The church is one of the most well-preserved Romanesque churches on Gotland, and gives a good impression of how most of the churches on the island might once have looked. The interior still has a rich decoration in the form of

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

. The wall paintings date from two periods, the oldest ones from the end of the 13th century. These are mostly ornamental, and unusual in that they are signed by the artist, a painter named Halvard. From the same time dates a runic inscription in

Old Gutnish Old Gutnish or Old Gotlandic was a North Germanic language spoken on the Baltic island of Gotland. It shows sufficient differences from the Old West Norse and Old East Norse dialects that it is considered to be a separate branch. While vas ...

, which tells the name of the farmers of the parish who contributed oxen and day's works to the construction of the church, showing that the building of the church was a communal undertaking. A later set of murals depict the

Passion of Christ In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...

together with legends of saints, and were made during the middle of the 15th century. The church used to house medieval wooden sculptures, the majority of which are today at the Museum of Gotland in Visby. Still in the church is the

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting ...

, dating from the 1370s, and the triumphal cross from the 15th century. There is also a gravestone in the choir from the 13th century, with a runic inscription. The church belongs to the

and lies within the Diocese of Visby.

References

External links

*
Official site (in Swedish)
{{Authority control Churches in Gotland County Churches in the Diocese of Visby Romanesque architecture in Sweden Church frescos in Sweden 13th-century churches in Sweden Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden 1200 establishments in Europe

History and architecture

References

Further reading

External links