Fardhem Church () is a medieval church in Fardhem 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 Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

. The present-day church may have been preceded by 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 ...

; the current church is one of the most well-preserved Romanesque churches on Gotland, built in stages from the 12th to 13th century. It belongs to the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

and lies in the

Diocese of Visby The Diocese of Visby () is a division of the Church of Sweden consisting of the island of Gotland. Its seat is Visby Cathedral located in the largest town on Gotland, Visby. The Bishop of Visby is also responsible for the episcopal oversight of ...

History

According to the

Gutasaga Gutasaga (''Gutasagan'') is a saga regarding the history of Gotland before its Christianization. It was recorded in the 13th century and survives in only a single manuscript, the Codex Holm. B 64, dating to , kept at the National Library of Sweden ...

, one of the earliest churches on Gotland was built in Fardhem. If so, this was a stave church of which nothing remains today. Early graves found in the area however indicate that there might well have been a wooden church at the site of the presently visible one early on. The church seen today is also of considerable age. It is a Romanesque building, erected in stages from the end of the 12th century to the second quarter of the 13th century. Only the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

is later, added in 1871-72 and designed by

Axel Haig Axel Herman Haig RE (; 10 November 1835 –23 August 1921) was a Swedish-born artist, illustrator and architect. His paintings, illustrations and etchings, undertaken for himself and on behalf of many of the foremost architects of the Victorian ...

(known in Sweden by his original name Axel Herman Hägg.

Architecture

The exterior of the church has a uniform, Romanesque appearance. It is considered to be one of the best-preserved Romanesque churches on Gotland (at least externally). Especially noteworthy is 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 ...

portal. It is decorated with a few rather primitive sculpted elements, difficult to interpret. The work has been attributed to the locally active stone sculptor

Hegvald Hegvald (also Hegwald, Hegwaldr, fl. c. 1175-1200) was a Romanesque stone sculptor of baptismal fonts, working on Gotland. Works The name of Hegvald is derived from a rune inscription on one of the baptismal fonts attributed to the sculptor, but t ...

but may also be the work of some unknown master from

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

. There are no comparable works on Gotland. The interior of the church is less well-preserved. Fragments of murals from the 14th century were discovered during a restoration in 1951–52, and are now again visible. 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 ...

is Romanesque, probably a work by the sculptor known by the

notname In art history, a (, "name of necessity" or "contingency name") is an invented name given to an artist whose identity has been lost. The practice arose from the need to give such artists and their typically untitled or generically titled works a ...

Semi-Byzantios, but only the foot remains. Most other furnishings are from the 17th and 18th centuries.

References

External links

* {{Churches on Gotland Churches in Gotland County Churches in the Diocese of Visby Romanesque architecture in Sweden Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden