Tolånga kyrka, in the village of Tolånga in Skåne, dates back to the 1100s and is one of the more intriguing parish churches in Lunds stift. Alongside its medieval origins, it holds a genuinely eyebrow-raising 17th-century brass candelabrum among its curiosities.
The oldest parts of the church are believed to date from the late 1100s, when it was built of grey fieldstone in Romanesque style. Vaulted ceilings were added in the 1400s, along with the tower, and the vault arches were originally decorated with medieval wall paintings. During the 1850s the church was enlarged with north and south transepts, and the chancel and apse were rebuilt.
Long-standing local tradition held that the church once had medieval wall paintings, and recent restoration work is reported to have uncovered traces of these beneath the plaster, apparently confirming the claim.
When the floor was relaid in 1930, workers found stone coffins beneath it containing the skeletal remains of two children and two adults, along with further scattered skeletal remains under the floor at the western end of the nave.
The church's finely carved altar cabinet is thought to have been made in northern Germany, with sources suggesting either the late 1400s or around 1470. Its central panel shows the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven with the Christ child, surrounded by the four great Church Fathers and the twelve apostles. The richly carved pulpit is usually dated to 1601, and some of its carvings have tentatively been attributed to the German-born woodcarver Statius Otto, later active at the Danish royal court, though the evidence linking him to Tolånga is circumstantial.
Perhaps the most memorable object is a brass candelabrum, said to date from the 1600s, which was rediscovered in 2004 after apparently being hidden away in a box in the church attic for a very long time. An inscription on its base, in Danish, records that it was donated to the church on Whit Sunday 1635 by a Christian Pant and his wife. The candelabrum is unusual, even suggestive, in design: four male figures are shown dancing around a female figure in a manner that has been read as humorous rather than devotional, which may explain why it was tucked out of sight for so long. Similar candelabra are known from workshops active in Stralstund at the time. The church also holds two swords among its possessions, and a bronze seal stamp bearing the church's medieval seal, depicting John the Baptist, is kept at the Swedish History Museum.
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Tolånga kyrka, in the village of Tolånga in Skåne, dates back to the 1100s and is one of the more intriguing parish churches in Lunds stift. Alongside its medieval origins, it holds a genuinely eyebrow-raising 17th-century brass candelabrum among its curiosities.
Tolångabyaväg 21, 275 92, Tolånga
Explore this church: Tolånga kyrkaChurch information: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0. Each church page includes its credits and visiting notes.
Löddeköpinge kyrka, in the village of Löddeköpinge in Skåne, is a parish church of the Church of Sweden dating back to the 12th century. Visitors come for its medieval vaulted ceilings, painted decoration and richly…
Ådalsvägen 12, 246 35, Löddeköpinge
View church details: Löddeköpinge kyrkaLocation and available visiting information. A fuller English guide is still to be added.
Kilhult 6812
View church details: Svensköps kyrkaVedby kyrka, in Söndraby on the edge of Klippan in Skåne, is a brick church built in the 1860s on the site of an earlier medieval church. It serves the parish of Klippan within the…
Söndraby, i utkanten av Klippan
View church details: Vedby kyrkaLocation and available visiting information. A fuller English guide is still to be added.
Johan Banérs gata 65, 254 54, Helsingborg
View church details: S:ta Anna kyrkaSources, credits and English adaptations are identified on each church page. Provider data: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0.
Provider catalogue data: Svenska kyrkan, Platser, CC BY 4.0. Separately credited descriptions retain their stated source and licence terms. Catalogue and visiting data reformatted from the provider. The English guide combines and abridges separately credited sources below.
Provider record updated: 15 Sep 2023. This is not an independent verification date.
Source record: 7c3455fa-2580-4ec9-8ea1-e5dad34d3d8c
This English guide combines, abridges and translates the sources below with AI assistance, with editorial contributions by Churches in Sweden. It has not been independently verified. The adapted guide text is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photographs and map data have their own terms.