A Day of Churches

Monday, July 11, 2011.

Today Anne arranged with Saku's mom, Leena, to give me a tour of six, little, old churches in the area where Leena and Simo grew up on the southwest coast of Finland.  We drove first to the Pyhäranta Kirkko (1907) a relatively "young" structure, but in whose cemetery Leena's family is buried.   Inside the church  hanging over the center aisle is a model ship made by Leena's father after he retired from his seaman's career.

Pyhäranta Kirkko Organ

Frans Siivonen's Model Ship donated to Pyhäranta Kirkko

This church is located right by the sea.  I learned that displaying model ships in churches is quite common in maritime communities in Finland (and not just in Usikaupunki where I saw that for the first time!)  All the cemeteries I've seen here in Finland are quite lovely, with meticulous landscaping and plentiful flowers.  This one in Pyhäranta was where I first saw little windows built in to the headstones for vigil candles.

At Pyhämaa Tiekirkko (Road church)

Next we drove a few kilometers to Pyhämaa.  Tiekirkko means "road church" in Finnish and is an actual road sign designation for travelers (going back to pilgrimage days.)  Today it is used for travelers & others who want to find an open, functioning, parish with services on Sundays.  I am learning that contemporary  Finland is not as secular as popular media would have you believe!

Hand painted ceiling detail in old church, Pyhämaa

There were actually two old churches on the same grounds at Pyhämaa:  a wooden church, c. 1642, with original hand painted walls and ceilings (example in photo above) and a larger, but less decorated, stone church that was built c. 1804.

Another of Frans Siivonen's Model Ships donated to Pyhämaa Kirkko

Next we drove to Kalanti where we toured St. Olaf's Church c. 1400-1450.

Ceiling detail, St. Olaf's Church, Kalanti c. 1400-1450

The "Kalanti" school of church decoration is famous in this region and among Scandinavian  church historians for its detail and unique style.  Now that I have seen more than one church decorated this way even I could recognize some of the patterns.  I'm not sure how these congregations protect their priceless painted decorations. They seem well preserved and yet most look unprotected.  A couple of places had plexi-glass panels installed over the painted surfaces, but many were exposed.  There were no restrictions on photography.

Kello in Kalanti Kirkko

This church had a beautiful example of a church "kello" (clock) up in front on the right side of the altar.  I have never seen a clock anywhere but inconspicuously at the back of Roman Catholic churches.  Finally, in Laitila, after seeing four churches with clocks up on the altars, I asked the guide why theirs was placed there.  Apparently, it had nothing to do with timing the pastor's homilies, but was only in response to a conspicuous donation... and descendants who also wanted to see their ancestor's generous gift displayed.

But back to St. Olaf's, they had the cutest guide:  a good-looking teenage boy.  He was quite outgoing & articulate and seemed to be destined for the ministry.  I'm sure he has to fight off the confirmation class girls...

Inspiring boys at St. Olaf's

Next we stopped for lunch at a cafeteria in Laitila at a Senior Apt. building with a catering service.  These are very small towns but Leena knew this place had good, inexpensive, hot meals & open to the public!   After lunch we toured St. Michael's Church in Laitila.  This was the oldest of the six churches we saw today and one of the most richly decorated.

14th c. Madonna at St. Michael's church in Laitila

This church also had the most knowledgeable guide and the one who took the most time to answer our questions and point out unique features of their kirkko such as their Madonna statue.  Their Madonna is quite old and dates from the earliest time of this church.  Right now she is displayed in a cooler, dry room (known as the "Armature" or weapons room, where parishioners in days gone-by would park their weapons before coming into church.) A "weapons" room, always off the side of the main church, is a feature of most of the oldest churches in this region and now are used for storage.  (I asked to see St. Olaf's and found they use theirs to store their large nativity scene figures between Christmases.)

The guide at St. Michael's kirkko made a point to tell us that they are building a climate controlled glass box for their Madonna to be placed on the wall in the main church as soon as it is completed.  It did not escape my attention that the oldest of these churches started out as Roman Catholic and the most obvious "Roman" features, such as madonnas, saints & Nativity figures must have been downplayed for centuries after they became Lutheran communities.   Somewhere I read that there is a renewed interest among Lutheran churches in Finland to restore and honor that history.  Obviously, the churches we've seen today feel that way.

Our last church of the day's trip was a reproduction of Pyhän Pietarin Kirkko (Holy Peter's Church) in Untamala near Laitila.  Although the church is a reproduction (I never learned exactly how old it was) I was told it is built on the oldest Christian site in Finland.  There is a really old looking rock wall surrounding the church and  a few very worn grave monuments that reminded me of the cemeteries in Ireland with headstones we could not read.

Mariner's Cross in back of Holy Peter's Church, Untamala

 The building looked like it was used now only as a summer church and was quite small, but light and charming.  It had the prerequisite model sailing ship and a beautiful hand made mobile-like decoration made of straw hanging above the left side of the front altar.  Our tour ended there and I was glad I'd had Leena's expert navigation around the southwest coast of Finland and its beautiful churches. 

Waving from Pyhän Pietarin Kirkko in Untamala