Sånga Church (Swedish: Sånga kyrka) is a medieval Lutheran church on Färingsö island, close to Svartsjö Palace in the Diocese of Stockholm in Stockholm County, Sweden.

Sånga Church, external view

History and architecture

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Although mentioned in written sources for the first time in 1308, the church evidently is much older, dating from the 1170s.[1] It was expanded during the 14th and 15th centuries and transformed from a Romanesque church into a Gothic.[1][2]

Both externally and internally, the church retains much of its medieval appearance. The tall spire is from 1730[2] but replaced an earlier spire of the same form.[1] The church's windows have been enlarged in phases,[2] but no other major alterations have been made to the exterior of the church. Inside, the church is decorated with a large and rich set of frescos, dating from circa 1470. The motifs are a mix of Christian, religious pictures and humorous grotesques. Among the more unusual of the frescos are depictions of the fifteen signs that forebode the Last Judgement.[1][2]

Among the church furnishings, the pulpit is an unusually richly carved Baroque piece, profusely decorated with intarsia.[2] The baptismal font, dating from the 12th century, is richly decorated, and the triumphal cross (circa 1300) also merits special mention. The altarpiece is a work by Jordan Painter. A carved wooden epitaph from 1584 is believed to contain the second oldest landscape painting in Swedish art, a few years younger than the Vädersolstavlan.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Sörenson, Ulf (1999). Nya vägvisaren till kulturen i Stockholms län (in Swedish). Stockholm: Prisma. p. 180. ISBN 91-518-3547-9.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Sånga kyrka" (in Swedish). Church of Sweden. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
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59°21′29″N 17°42′27″E / 59.35806°N 17.70750°E / 59.35806; 17.70750