Gärdslösa Church, Borgholm, Öland, Sweden

The Gärdslösa church is the best preserved medieval church on Öland. The western part of the nave as well as the slightly younger western tower was built during the 12th century and the transept was added around 1240. The main restoration was done in 1845.

There is a votive ship of the Swedish Riksnyckeln, which was blasted in a battle between the Danish and Swedish navies in the Kalmar Strait in 1679. On the model is written the year 1691 and it was most likely given to the church the year after that. The model is fully rigged, but restored several times.

References:

Maritime Heritage Atlas of South Baltic

User Reviews

Sören T Eriksson (4 months ago)
Closed!

Kristina Dittmar (7 months ago)
Very beautiful old church ⛪️ Impressive, definitely go in!

Tara family (7 months ago)
Very nice.....

Mats Engström (3 years ago)
Here you can rest peacefully when life is over!

Marie-Louise Sandberg (3 years ago)
Beautiful building.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Zvonimir Hrvoj

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Church of St Donatus

The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.

The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.

Gärdslösa Church

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