The Rovaniemi Mother Church () is a

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 ...

located in the city center of

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Lapland (Finland), Lapland. It is located near the Arctic Circle in the northern interior of the country. The population of Rovaniemi is approximately , while the Rovaniemi su ...

in Lapland,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. The 850-seat church, designed by architect Bertel Liljequist, was completed in 1950. The earlier church building, completed in 1817, was burnt down by the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

during the

Lapland War During World War II, the Lapland War (; ; ) saw fighting between Finland and Nazi Germany – effectively from September to November 1944 – in Finland's northernmost region, Lapland. Though the Finns and the Germans had been fighting together ...

on October 16, 1944. The specialties of the church include a

Christian cross The Christian cross, seen as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, is a religious symbol, symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix, a cross that includes a ''corpus'' (a representation of Jesus' body, usually three-dimensional) a ...

on the roof, which is lit with a red neon light (only visible at night). The choice of color once sparked widespread debate. The color of the cross is red because of its symbolic meaning: "Bloody Cross on top of the Promissory Note." During 2005, Rovaniemi Church was renovated. The most visible change was the renewal of the water cover made copper. The large

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 ...

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 ...

(14 meters high and 11 meters wide) was made by Professor Lennart Segerstråle in 1951. The work is called ''Elämän lähde'' ("The Source of Life").Juha Vartiainen: ''Alttaritauluja Suomen kirkoista'', p. 119–120. 2008. . (in Finnish)

References

External links

Rovaniemen kirkko - Rovaniemen seurakunta
(in Finnish)
Rovaniemen kirkko - Museovirasto
(in Finnish)
Rovaniemi Church, Rovaniemi – Discovering Finland
20th-century churches in Finland 20th-century Lutheran churches Buildings and structures in Lapland (Finland) Churches completed in 1950 Lutheran churches in Finland Rovaniemi {{finland-Lutheran-church-stub