Yttergran Church

Last updated May 20, 2019

Yttergran Church (Swedish : Yttergrans kyrka) is a medieval Lutheran church in the Archdiocese of Uppsala in Uppsala County, Sweden.

Swedish language North Germanic language spoken in Sweden

Swedish is a North Germanic language spoken natively by 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden, and in parts of Finland, where it has equal legal standing with Finnish. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to some extent with Danish, although the degree of mutual intelligibility is largely dependent on the dialect and accent of the speaker. Both Norwegian and Danish are generally easier for Swedish speakers to read than to listen to because of difference in accent and tone when speaking. Swedish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. It has the most speakers of the North Germanic languages.

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.

Uppsala County is a county or län on the eastern coast of Sweden, whose capital is the city of Uppsala. It borders the counties of Dalarna, Stockholm, Södermanland, Västmanland, Gävleborg, and the Baltic Sea.

History

The church dates from the early Middle Ages and may have been built as a private church, belonging to a farmstead.^[1] According to a local legend, the church was commissioned by two sisters on a nearby farm.^[2] The oldest parts of the church are the nave and choir, in Romanesque style and possibly dating from the second half of the 12th century. The church originally also had an apse, but it was torn down following a devastating fire in the 1720s. The tower is somewhat later, erected in the 13th century but the spire or tower roof is considerably later, dating from 1773-75.^[3] During the 14th and 15th centuries, changes were made inside the church, e.g. by vaulting the ceiling. During the 15th century the church porch or so-called weapon-house, has added.^[1]

Middle Ages Period of European history from the 5th to the 15th century

In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages.

The nave is the central part of a church, stretching from the main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type building, the strict definition of the term "nave" is restricted to the central aisle. In a broader, more colloquial sense, the nave includes all areas available for the lay worshippers, including the side-aisles and transepts. Either way, the nave is distinct from the area reserved for the choir and clergy.

A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tabernacle. In larger medieval churches it contained choir-stalls, seating aligned with the side of the church, so at right-angles to the seating for the congregation in the nave. Smaller medieval churches may not have a choir in the architectural sense at all, and they are often lacking in churches built by all denominations after the Protestant Reformation, though the Gothic Revival revived them as a distinct feature.

Adjacent to the church is an external wooden bell tower, built in 1763-66, and a burial chapel designed by architect Bengt Romare and built in 1954.^[3]

Bell tower a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells

A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell towers, often part of a municipal building, an educational establishment, or a tower built specifically to house a carillon. Church bell towers often incorporate clocks, and secular towers usually do, as a public service.

Architecture

The church is the smallest church in the archdiocese of Uppsala.^[2] The interior is dominated by a number of medieval frescos. Of these, a few date from the 14th century but the majority are from the 15th century and executed by the well-known master Albertus Pictor.^[1] The frescos include a portrait of Jakob Ulvsson, archbishop of Uppsala and founder of Uppsala University.^[1] The bishop is depicted kneeling next to his coat of arms.^[2] The archbishop owned the nearby Biskops-Arnö Castle and it is probable that the entire decoration of the church by Albertus Pictor was commissioned by Jakob Ulvsson.^[1] The frescos were painted over with whitewash at a later stage but rediscovered and laid bare during a renovation in 1927.^[3]

Fresco is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid, or 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 becomes an integral part of the wall. The word fresco is derived from the Italian adjective fresco meaning "fresh", and may thus be contrasted with fresco-secco or secco mural painting techniques, which are applied to dried plaster, to supplement painting in fresco. The fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting.

Albertus Pictor, also called Albert Pictor, Albert Målare and Albrekt Pärlstickare (Swedish), is the most famous late medieval Swedish painter, known for his wallpaintings surviving in numerous churches in southern and central Sweden. Celebrations for the quincentenary of his death were arranged for 2009.

Jakob Ulvsson was Archbishop of Uppsala, Sweden, 1469–1515 and the founder of Uppsala University.

Among the furnishings, the baptismal font remains but in a damaged state.^[3] It dates from the 12th century and probably made on Gotland.^[1] The church also has a partly preserved medieval altarpiece dating from c. 1470-80. The altar and pulpit however date from 1777 and are Rococo in style. They are a peculiar combination of altar and pulpit in one.^[3]

A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism.

Gotland is a province, county, municipality, and diocese of Sweden. It is Sweden's largest island. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the north, as well as the Karlsö Islands to the west. The population is 58,595, of which about 23,600 live in Visby, the main town. The island of Gotland and the other areas of the province of Gotland make up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area.

An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, or a set of them, the word can also be used of the whole ensemble behind an altar, otherwise known as a reredos, including what is often an elaborate frame for the central image or images. Altarpieces were one of the most important products of Christian art especially from the late Middle Ages to the era of the Counter-Reformation.

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Qviström, Linda; Anund, Johan (2012). Det Medeltida Uppland. En arkeologisk guidebok (in Swedish). Lund: Historiska Media. pp. 175–176. ISBN 978-91-85873-74-6.
1 2 3 "Svenska kyrkan i Håbo" (in Swedish). Church of Sweden. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
1 2 3 4 5 "Yttergran Church". Upplandia. Retrieved 1 September 2013.

External links

Official site (in Swedish)
Media related to Yttergran Church at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 59°36′05″N17°30′17″E / 59.60139°N 17.50472°E / 59.60139; 17.50472

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[DMU-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Qviström, Linda; Anund, Johan (2012). Det Medeltida Uppland. En arkeologisk guidebok (in Swedish). Lund: Historiska Media. pp. 175–176. ISBN 978-91-85873-74-6.

[svkyrkan-2] 1 2 3 "Svenska kyrkan i Håbo" (in Swedish). Church of Sweden. Retrieved 1 September 2013.

[upplandia-3] 1 2 3 4 5 "Yttergran Church". Upplandia. Retrieved 1 September 2013.