Block-pillar church

The block-pillar church (Finnish: tukipilarikirkko; Swedish: blockpelarkyrka) was a common type of wooden church in Ostrobothnia in the 17th century. Individual specimens are also found elsewhere in Finland and in northern Sweden.

Construction

The basic form of a block pillar church is a nave church, where the walls are made of horizontal logs and the joints between the logs are placed inside a timber pillar. The pillars are square timbered cavities as high as the walls with interlocking joints and are visible from both outside and inside the church. The pillars support a long timber wall so it doesn't start to buckle due to pressure from the roof. Inside the church, the walls are supported by tie beams between the parallel walls.[1] Most commonly two pairs of block pillars were used, but the largest block-pillar church is Tornio Church, which has three pairs of pillars. In the west gable, the churches often have a timbered tower with a high spire. Most often the tower had no church bells, and a bell tower was built separately. Block-pillar churches appear to have been an Ostrobothnian specialty.[2]

Preserved churches

Around a hundred block-pillar churches were built, twelve of which have been preserved. The oldest preserved is Vörå church from 1627, which was expanded into a cruciform church in 1777.[2]

Place Church Built Notes Picture
Alastaro, Loimaa Alastaro Church [fi] 1754 moved from Loimaa in 1841 Alastaro Church
Jukkasjärvi, Kiruna Jukkasjärvi Church [fi; sv] 1726 Jukkasjärvi Church
Kempele Kempele Old Church [fi] 1688–1691 Kempele Old Church
Kristinestad Ulrika Eleonora Church, Kristinestad [fi] 1700 Ulrika Eleonora Church
Muhos Muhos Church [fi] 1634 Muhos Church
Sodankylä Sodankylä Old Church 1689 Sodankylä Old Church
Temmes, Tyrnävä Temmes Church [fi] 1767 Temmes Church
Tervola Tervola Old Church [fi] 1687–89 Tervola Old Church
Tornio Tornio Church [fi] 1684–86 Tornio Church
Ullava, Kokkola Ullava Church [fi] 1783 Ullava Church
Utajärvi Utajärvi Church [fi] 1762 Utajärvi Church
Vörå Vörå Church [fi] 1626–27 expanded to cruciform church in 1777 Vörå Church

References

  1. ^ Pettersson, Lars (1985). "IV Kring stenkyrkorna och stensakristian i Vörå samt blockpelarkyrkornas framträdande i Österbotten" [About the stone churches and the stone sacristy in Vörå and the emergence of block-pillar churches in Ostrobothnia]. Svenska Österbottens historia 5 (in Swedish). Svenska Österbottens landskapsförbund. pp. 59–63, 67. ISBN 9519961186. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  2. ^ a b Knapas, Marja Terttu (2018). "Blockpelarkyrkan en finländsk specialitet" [The block-pillar church is a Finnish speciality]. Kulttuuriymparistomme.fi (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2018-01-12.

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