St. Mary's Church, Turku in Finland
This is my last post from Turku.
Whenever I find a beautiful church on the road, I always stop and visit it immediately.
The church I visited this time was a very small church that you have to zoom in on the map to see.
The name is St. Mary's Church, Turku.
St Mary's Church
- Address: Maunu Tavastinkatu 2, 20380 Turku
- Phone: +358 40 341 7140
- Open: June-August daily, September-May by agreement
- Open during summertime 2023: Mon–Fri 12 noon–6 pm (29 May – 11 Aug, except 23 Jun). Guide available.
- The Sunday Service of St Mary's Parish at 11 am (in Finnish)
According to folk tradition, St Mary's Church, or Maaria Church, was built at a place where sacrifices had been performed in heathen times, in the village of Räntämäki. It had also been the site of the village burial ground and a place of assembly. The village of Räntämäki was renamed after the patron saint of the Church, St Mary, and in the records it is sometimes referred to as the parish of Räntämäki, sometimes as St Mary's. The church took the name of St Mary from the nearby episcopal church of Koroinen, its original patron saint having been the first Bishop of Paris, Saint Dionysios. The saint, who died a martyr's death in the 3rd century A. D., is often depicted, after his execution, carrying his own head in his arms.
The oldest part of the church is the present sacristy, which was built adjacent to the older wooden church in the late 13th or early 14th century.
Dating from the 14th Century
There are no records as to when the present church was built, but the work was probably started in the mid or late 14th century. Two rows of pillars divide the church into three aisles. The chancel vaults of the central nave are star-vaulted and they rise higher than the rest of the church. The other vaults are cross-vaulted, and when seen from below they form a diagonal cross, the cross of St Andrew.
The armory at the south end, the star vaulting of the chancel, and the round pillars supporting them date back to the 15th century, when extensive repairs and renovations were carried out.
The building of the tower at the western end of the church was begun in the 14th century, the lower part being originally left open. Later on, in the 17th century, it was closed.
In 1876 lightning set fire to the roof of the church, and two medieval wood carvings, one of St Mary and one of St Dionysios, which had been stored in the attic of the sacristy were destroyed.
The Altars in St Mary's
The fixed medieval stone altar was used as a kind of side altar. On weekdays and without the attendance of congregation or assistants, the priest often celebrated private services, or votive masses, at the request of parishioners. Most commonly, these were requiem masses for the souls of the dead. A gravestone from the 13th century, the date having been interpreted as either 1215 or 1290 is preserved on the wall of the sacristy. The Latin text on the stone is translated as follows: "In the year of our Lord 1290 died Ingigerdis, former wife of Pietari: may she rest in peace."
The main altar and altar rail of the church were rebuilt during the renovation of 1984 - 85, and at the same time the altar window, which had been bricked up in 1877, was reopened. Inside the brickwork of the old altar was found a partly damaged medieval altar of limestone, which was repaired and put to its original use. The altar has five crosses engraved in it in memory of the five wounds inflicted on Christ.
Above the altar, there is a damaged altar screen, carved in the 15th century in Lübeck, with the crowning of the Virgin Mary in the center. Several figures are missing from the screen, which survived the fire of 1876. In front of it is an altar crucifix from the 14th century, possibly of Finnish origin. During the recent repair of the church, it was restored to its original state.
On the northern wall of the church hangs a large altarpiece depicting Christ on the Cross, received as a donation in 1877. It was painted and donated by Emelie Wallensköld, wife of the president of the Turku Court of Appeal at the time.
Other Ornaments
A large crucifix or triumphal cross from the late 14th century, possibly Finnish in origin, is found between the round pillars of the chancel in the central nave. This crucifix, representing the tree of life bursting into leaf, is the church's most valuable work of art.
The pulpit, completed in 1662 and now restored to its original colors and ornamentation, is the work of Daniel Sudrovius. It is a copy of a pulpit destroyed in the Fire of Turku in 1827. The edge has a quotation from the Bible in Latin inscribed in it: "For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you" (Math. 10:20). The canopy, or baldachin, bears the inscription 1666 and the quotation: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights" (James 1:17).
ln the southern part of the chancel stands a damaged baptismal font from the late 14th century. It is carved from Finnish limestone and a modern font has been set into it for present-day use. At the door to the armory, there is a medieval aspersorium made of granite from the Turku region. On the northern wall of the church hangs a plaque in memory of Jaakko Suomalainen, who compiled the first Finnish hymnal and was parson of St Mary's in the years 1578 - 1588. On the south wall, attached to the closed-up priest's door, hangs another plaque commemorating Pietari Kalm, economist, and explorer, who was parson of St Mary's in the years 1763-1779.
Exceptional Frescoes Uncovered
The medieval look of the church is well preserved. Its most unusual feature is the naive-style secco drawings (unlike frescos they were painted on dry rather than wet plaster) on the walls and ceiling vaults.
The medieval frescoes were uncovered in the years 1908-1909. Apart from the holy crosses and bands of color on the ribbed vaults, the pictures are placed apparently at random. Extremely primitive in technique, even reminiscent of a child's drawings, the frescoes depict the state of the church and society in the Middle Ages and also a fascinating journey into the life and beliefs of the era.
Spears and shields, Troy towns (mazes) and crosses, Turk’s head knots, and rosettes are repeated in the vaults. Knights joust in tournaments, a Dominican monk raises a cross, a master builder holds a trowel of plaster, and up on the organ loft, there is even a fox from a folk tale. Pictures of cogs, and the sailing ships used by Hanseatic merchants, tell of seafaring.
Evidently, the frescoes also express a superstitious need for protection against the forces of evil, but not all the pictures can be explained.
https://www.turunseurakunnat.fi/english/churches-and-chapels/st-marys-church
When I visited the church, it was in the middle of a service, so I was restricted in my movement and filming. It wasn't that someone forbade me to film, but because it was a service, I had to be very careful about the sound of my footsteps or the sound of the camera shutter, and I wasn't able to move freely inside, so my filming was very limited.
After some shooting, I decided to return, and when I did, about an hour later, the church was firmly closed.
I was very sad because of closed.
The interior was much better than I expected. It felt like a scaled-down version of the Turku Cathedral I had seen earlier.
The sound of the organ and the voices of the choir from inside the church made the small church feel very rich and sacred.
I took video footage, but I'm not uploading it because of privacy concerns.
There are only a few photos, but I will post them on my blog.
I wouldn't call it a substitute, but the church bells started ringing, so I captured it on video.
When the bells start ringing, the window opens automatically, and when the belling stops, the window closes automatically.
Thank you for visiting my blog and reading the article.
- Camera : Canon EOS-5D Mark IV
- Lens : Canon EF 16-35L / f2.8