Bokenäs Old Church (Swedish: ''Bokenäs gamla kyrka'') is a medieval era

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

at Bokenäs in

Uddevalla Municipality Uddevalla Municipality () is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Uddevalla. The present municipality was created in 1971 when the ''City of Uddevalla'' (which had absorbed the rural mun ...

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County () is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1,616,000 amounts to 17% of S ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

History

It is now part of Bokenäs assembly, after Bokenäs and several other local

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es were merged in 2010. One of the most well-preserved

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

churches in

Bohuslän Bohuslän () is a Provinces of Sweden, Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the ...

, it was founded at some point in the early 12th century, and has been in use since. Except for parts of the interior, the weaponhouse from the 17th century, and the

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

from 1752, most of the church is original. The altar, baptismal font and pulpit are from the 1770s. Interior paintings were made in 1770 by Johan Henric Dieden (1732-1817) from

Uddevalla Uddevalla is a Stad (Sweden), town in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It’s the seat of Uddevalla Municipality. In 2015, it had a population of 34,781, making it the largest town fully in Bohuslän. Uddevalla is located where the river Bäveån ...

. The church underwent restoration from 1974 to 1976 under the direction of architect Arne Nygård (1925-2014). The church is open to the public daily during the summer, and for pre-arranged visits during the rest of the year due to maintenance costs.

Gallery

Bokenäs gamla kyrka 1.JPG, Church exterior, seen in April 2006. Bokenäs gamla kyrka 2.JPG, Church exterior, seen in April 2006. Bokenäs gamla kyrka 4.JPG, Oldest church entry, designed for defensive purposes. Bokenäs gamla kyrka 1919.jpg, The church in 1919, after a recent restoration. Bokenäs gamla kyrka 3.JPG,

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier A Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is a monument dedicated to the services of an unknown soldier and the common memories of all soldiers killed in war. Such tombs are located in many nations and are usually high-profile na ...

, in which an unidentified

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

killed in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...

1916 is buried Bokenäs gamla kyrka interiör3.jpg, Church interior seen from the main church entry Bokenäs gamla kyrka altartavla.jpg,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

-style

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter 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 or sculpture, ...

with an old

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 ' ...

behind Bokenäs gamla kyrka interiör.jpg, Main church exit,

pews 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 A ...

and paintings of

saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

by Johan Henric Dieden Bokenäs gamla kyrka interiör 2.jpg, Church interior seen from the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, next to the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

References

* *

External links

Bokenäs gamla kyrka website
Buildings and structures in Västra Götaland County Churches in Västra Götaland County 12th-century churches in Sweden Churches in the Diocese of Gothenburg Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden Uddevalla Municipality {{Sweden-Lutheran-church-stub