Östra Sönnarslöv Church () is a church in Östra Sönnarslöv, a village in

Kristianstad Municipality Kristianstad Municipality () is a municipality in Skåne County in southernmost Sweden. Its seat is located in the city Kristianstad. The present municipality was created in three steps during the last nationwide local government reform, and it ...

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

, Sweden.

History

The church originally consisted of a

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-type ...

, a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

and an

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

, and was built during the 12th century. The broad tower was added in the 13th century. The church contains the graves of the Ramel family, lords of nearby Maltesholm Castle. During the 18th century a north

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

arm was added, and during substantial reconstruction works in the 1860s another transept arm was added to the south. The apse was demolished at the same time, and the nave heavily rebuilt; today only the tower and the chancel are preserved from the medieval church. A renovation was carried out in the 1960s, and at this time the medieval murals in the chancel were restored.

Murals and furnishings

The murals in the chancel are from the middle of the 15th century and unusually well-preserved with vivid colours and sharp contours. They depict the four saints Barbara, Gertrude,

Olaf Olaf or Olav (, , or differences between General American and Received Pronunciation, British ; ) is a Dutch, Polish, Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ances ...

and

Canute Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...

. The

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

of the church is from the late 12th century and originally perhaps belonged to another medieval church, , which was demolished in the 19th century and replaced with a new building. The font has carved floral ornamentation, and has on stylistic grounds been attributed to the Romanesque artist Tove. The other furnishings are considerably younger; the

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a synagogue, church, funeral home or sometimes a courtroom. Occasionally, they are also found in live performance venues (such as the Ryman ...

s are partially from 1611 but mostly from the 19th century, and the richly decorated wooden

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

is from 1636.

References

External links

* {{Churches in Scania Churches in Skåne County Churches in the Diocese of Lund Church frescos in Sweden 12th-century churches in Sweden Kristianstad Municipality