Kalix Church (, sometimes Nederkalix kyrka) is a medieval

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

church in

Kalix Kalix (; Kalix dialect: ''Kôlis'' , phonemically ; ; ) is a locality and the seat of the Kalix Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. The name Kalix is believed to originate from the Sami word ''Gáláseatnu'', or "Kalasätno", meaning " ...

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County (, Meänkieli/, ) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares borders with Västerbotten County to the southwest, the Gulf ...

, Sweden. It belongs to the

Diocese of Luleå The Diocese of Luleå () is a Swedish diocese of the Church of Sweden with its Episcopal see in the city of Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards ...

. The church is the northernmost medieval church of Sweden.

History

The presently visible church was preceded by a wooden chapel. The exact time of construction of the church is not known, but it was probably constructed during the late 15th century. The church is mentioned for the first time in 1472 when archbishop Jakob Ulvsson from

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

visited the church in connection with the inauguration of the

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, ...

of the church. The event is mentioned in a letter of

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

, which is also the oldest written record from Kalix as well as the only letter of indulgence that is known to have been issued from the Diocese of Luleå. The inauguration of the altarpiece may have been done in connection with either the inauguration of the new church or with the start of the construction of it. The church was damaged by fire in 1595, in which a set of medieval

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

s were destroyed. A wooden

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...

was replaced with one made of stone in the late 17th century. In 1747 the windows were enlarged and in 1753–54 the church was renovated. The church has been pillaged by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n troops on two occasions: in 1716, when cash and church vestments were carried off, and again in 1809, when it was used by Russian troops as a stable during the

Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...

. The church was renovated in 1955 and again in 1972.

Architecture

Kalix Church is a typical representative of a type of late medieval

hall church A hall church is a Church (building), church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height. In England, Flanders and the Netherlands, it is covered by parallel roofs, typically, one for each vessel, whereas in Germany there is often one s ...

es found in the north of Sweden. The gables of the church display

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

ornaments and the building has two medieval portals in its south façade. It lies close to

Kalix river The Kalix River (in Kalix dialect: ''kölisälva'', Swedish language, Swedish: proper ''Kalix älv'' or in everyday language ''Kalixälven'', Northern Sami: ''Gáláseatnu'', In Meänkieli the lower part of the river is called ''Kaihnuunväylä'', ...

in what used to be a so-called ''church village'' () where congregation members who came from far away would have a small house or cottage in which to stay during church holidays, but of this church village only a single house remains today. Not far from the church lies the old

parsonage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, pa ...

. An external wooden bell tower, built by carpenters from Ostrobothnia, stands in the cemetery. All in all, the church and its environs constitute a typical representative of a church complex in

Norrland Norrland (, , originally ''Norrlanden'', meaning 'the Northlands') is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administrative p ...

. Inside, the church ceiling rests on three star-shaped vaults. The church contains several medieval items. The aforementioned altarpiece still stands behind the main altar and is adorned with statues depicting, on the central panel, the

Holy Virgin Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loret ...

with the infant Christ, and on each side of her statues of

James the Greater James the Great (Koine Greek, Koinē Greek: Ἰάκωβος, romanized: ''Iákōbos''; Syriac language, Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ, romanized: ''Yaʿqōḇ''; died AD 44) was one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Accordi ...

and

James the Lesser James the Less ( ) is a figure of early Christianity. He is also called "the Minor", "the Little", "the Lesser", or "the Younger", according to translation, James is styled "the Less" to distinguish him from the Apostle James the Great (also cal ...

. 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 also medieval, as are two separate sculptures of saints. The

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 one of the oldest in Norrland, and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

in style. The

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

with its ornamented

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

s dates from the mid-18th century, while two more free-standing sculptures come from an altarpiece made in the 1880s. The choir window dates from 1972 and is made by artist Pär Andersson.

References

External links

* {{coord, 65, 51, 14, N, 23, 07, 56, E, type:landmark_region:SE, display=title 15th-century churches in Sweden Gothic architecture in Sweden Churches in Norrbotten County Churches in the Diocese of Luleå Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden Kalix

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links