Lau Church
Lau Church | |
---|---|
Lau kyrka | |
57°16′58″N 18°37′13″E / 57.2829°N 18.6202°E | |
Country | Sweden |
Denomination | Church of Sweden |
Administration | |
Diocese | Visby |
Lau Church (Swedish: Lau kyrka) is a medieval church on the Swedish island of Gotland, in the Diocese of Visby. It is an unusually large church, and may have been used by Dominicans preaching for the Crusades.
History
The church of Lau dates from the early 13th century, but was possibly pre-dated by a
The oldest part of the church is the unusually large
No major alterations have been made to the church since the Middle Ages. A through renovation of the church was carried out in 1958-1960.[2][3]
Architecture
As mentioned, the church is one of the largest medieval country churches on Gotland. It has five external portals, the most of any country church on the island. Especially the Romanesque portals of the nave are noteworthy, richly sculpted and unusually large. The church lacks a tower; it can be deducted from the way the west end of the church is built that plans to build one existed but for one reason or another it was never executed.[3]
The interior is dominated by the high vaulted ceiling, carried by large
The church has some notable furnishings. The
References
- ^ ISBN 91-971048-1-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-91-85873-83-8.
- ^ ISBN 9129410355.
- ^ a b c "Lau kyrka" (in Swedish). Lau hembygdsförening. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ "Lau kyrka med omgivning" (in Swedish). Länsstyrelsen i Gotlands län. Archived from the original on 23 August 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
Further reading
- Lagerlöf, Erland; Stolt, Bengt (1975). Lau kyrka. Sveriges kyrkor, konsthistoriskt inventarium (in Swedish). Vol. 165. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. ISSN 0284-1894.
External links
- Media related to Lau Church at Wikimedia Commons