Skepptuna Church () 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 the

Archdiocese of Uppsala The Archdiocese of Uppsala () is one of the thirteen dioceses of the Church of Sweden and the only one having the status of an archdiocese. Lutheran archdiocese Uppsala is the seat of the Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala. The diocese, which has it ...

in Stockholm County,

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

There is evidence in the form of a

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

(rune inscription

U 358 U, or u, is the twenty-first letter and the fifth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''u'' (pronounced ) ...

) that there have been Christian people in the area since at least the early 11th century. The oldest part of the church however dates from the early 13th century. It was continuously expanded throughout the

Middle Ages 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 global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and received its present look during the 15th century. In 1776, the tower spire was found to have started to rot and was exchanged for the present one. Since then the church has remained largely unaltered. A renovation of the church was carried out in 1907, when a number of

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 also rediscovered and restored.

Architecture

The church is built of roughly hewn stone blocks, with additions made by

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 ...

. The most noteworthy part of the exterior is the fine

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (, , ) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Baltic region, Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resources of standing rock (though Glacial erratic, ...

tower, probably inspired by the nearby

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral () is a cathedral located between the University Hall (Uppsala University), University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in t ...

, which was at the time of the construction of Skepptuna Church's relatively new tower (c. 1400 – 1450). Inside, the church is whitewashed save for a few fragments of medieval

s. The church's

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, ...

is a

Northern Renaissance The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps, developing later than the Italian Renaissance, and in most respects only beginning in the last years of the 15th century. It took different forms in the vari ...

piece, made in the

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or vi ...

of Flemish sculptor

Jan Borman Jan Borman (sometimes Borreman or Borremans, fl. c. 1479–1520) was a Flemish people, Flemish Northern Renaissance sculptor. Life Borman belonged to a family of sculptors. His father was also a sculptor and the two seem to have worked together ...

(c. 1479-1520). A medieval wooden sculpture depicting

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

, made in the atelier of

Bernt Notke Bernt Notke (; – before May 1509) was a late Gothic artist from the Baltic region. He has been described as one of the foremost artists of his time in northern Europe. Life Very little is known about the life of Bernt Notke. The Notke fa ...

(c. 1440-1509), formerly also belonged to the church but is today on display at the

Swedish History Museum The Swedish History Museum () is a museum located in Stockholm, Sweden, that covers Swedish archaeology and cultural history from the Mesolithic period to present day. Founded in 1866, it operates as a government agency and is tasked with preservi ...

Gallery

Skepptuna kyrka int08.jpg, Pulpit Skepptuna kyrka int05.jpg, Baptismal font Skepptuna kyrka int07.jpg, Lime painting on the north corridor wall Skepptuna kyrka int09.jpg, Organ Skepptuna kyrka int10.jpg, Portal

References

External links

*
Official site (in Swedish)
{{Churches in Uppland Churches in Stockholm County Church frescos in Sweden 13th-century churches in Sweden Churches in the Archdiocese of Uppsala Churches converted from the Roman Catholic Church to the Church of Sweden Sigtuna Municipality