The Swedish island of Gotland is home to a hundred medieval churches that are open to the public. Carefully maintained to display the rich decorations added over a millennium, each church has its own stories to tell. Our visit to Gotland this year gave us opportunity to explore a few more.
We stayed in the village Stenkyrka half an hour northeast of Visby. The name literally means Church of Stone, evidence that when this place was settled, its main feature was a church built of stone, not wood as was the material used for the first churches in Scandinavia. Nearby Lickershamn was a Viking Age harbour, or as the guidebook poetically expressed it, an important centre for importing silver.
As the main purpose of our visit was the medieval festival and as we explored many churches last year, I used the app 100 Kyrkornas Ö (Island of 100 churches) to pick out three churches to examine further.
Elinghem
Abandoned in the 17th century, the Church of Elinghem is today a ruin. It is evidence that not every hamlet managed to preserve their church. Perhaps a victim of the Reformation, perhaps a divisive or controversial vicar. Somehow the congregation did not persevere through the hardship of time.
We enjoyed exploring the ruin and created stories of treasure hunters finding their way into the hidden crypts below. Easily a set for a music video, motion picture, or a live roleplaying event.
Lärbro
The church in Lärbro features an impressive octagonal tower with gargoyles protruding high above to channel away rain water. The church bell hangs in a separate tower next to the church, after a storm centuries ago took down the church spire.
Inside decorations date back a millennium. Rune inscriptions circle the stones in the floor next to the alter. Presumably one grave here dates the Black Death on Gotland to the year 1350. As the church was rigged for a concert the same evening we did not manage to locate it. We came back and enjoyed the concert however.
Bro
Bro Church sits at pre Christian religious grounds. Nearby a source springs from the ground and grindstones here leave no doubt that this was a place of sacrifice.
The walls of the church incorporate several pre Christian stones displaying animal reliefs and picture stone ornamentation. Clearly visible as you approach the church, but also placed seemingly at random, you wonder whether these were just convenient local building materials or if their use had special meaning.
Two trap doors in the wooden floor opens to the original floor underneath which dates back to the 13th century. Touching wood of a tree that was chopped down 800 years ago blows your mind.
