Medieval churches

Helsinki has a lot to offer visitors, but it does not have everything. If you are looking for older buildings, then you have to leave the centre and venture further afield. The oldest stone building is the Sederholm museum which is located on the Senate Square and dates from 1757. But if you are looking for older buildings I suggest that you visit one of the 83 preserved stone churches around Finland. Christianity came to Finland in the 11th century and the first churches were generally built of wood. As these wooden churches fell into dis-repair or were destroyed by fire, they were replaced by the stone churches which we can see today. Technically they are known as "field stone churches" and here in Finland the stone type would be granite, which could be easily found in the surrounding areas. Generally the stone churches are built of large granite rocks which would have been covered on the outside with lime, some experts believe that the outside could also have been painted with decorative paintings. During the Catholic times the inside of these churches would have been quite different from what we are used to today. It would have been quite dark inside as the windows were comparatively small. There would not have been benches to sit on and these early stone churches were not heated. The floors would have been either basic stone  or in many cases just soil. There would have been many alters inside the church and many of these alters portraying different saints can be seen found in the Finnish National Museum on Mannerheimintie. You could not just stand where you liked inside these churches, there was a strict placement system which had to be followed. Men would stand on the South side of the church, whilst the ladies would stand on the North side. The important people would stand at the front of the congregation and the less important would be towards the back. The service would have been in Swedish as Sweden ruled Finland during those times, although the priests were suppose to be able to speak Finnish as well, their ability to do so was not always successful. Later on wooden churches were built for the Finnish congregation. Religious paintings decorate the walls of the inside of the churches, depicting stories from the bible, along with devils and monsters, designed to reinforce the priest's sermons. In the flickering candle light, it may have seemed to the congregation that these pictures were moving. in the minds of the medieval congregation it may have seemed that, if they could see the pictures, the pictures could see them. Finland turned to Lutheranism during the middle of the 1500's and today 80% of Finns are Lutherans. During the reformation in the 1700's, most of these paintings were painted over with lime and it was in the 1930's that the lime was removed to reveal the medieval paintings perfectly preserved underneath.

Two examples of these stone churches can be found only half an hours drive from Helsinki and it is a joy for me to take visitors to see them. Here are some pictures of my favourite destinations.

Espoo Cathedral was built between 1485-1490, inside there are lots of wall paintings, including a unique painting of Judas Iscariot.

St Lawrence's church in Vantaa only 30 minutes drive from the centre of Helsinki built in the 1450's although recent archaeological evidence suggests that it could be older. I have guided here many times, it has a lovely old cemetery and the surrounding area is very beautiful with a nice tea room close by.

Suintio church is my favourite as it has close ties with my family, built between 1460-1489 on the site of an older wooden church, I feel that this church has the best examples of wall paintings in any church I have yet found.

An example of the wall paintings in Suintio church

For the best feeling of a typical Finnish stone church, I would suggest that you visit Sipoo old church, built between 1450 and 1454. Inside you will find wooden benches and the floor as far as I can tell is original, whereas other churches show signs of renovations during the ages. You can also see the "naughty chair" where petty criminals would have to sit during services. A good place to stop whilst on the way to the wooden town of Porvoo.

A view of the inside of the Sipoo old church

 There are many other stone churches to visit, if you are coming to Helsinki on one of the many cruises which include Finland you may be offered the chance to visit Porvoo where you will find Porvoo Cathedral. If you are interested in seeing these churches, Porvoo Cathedral the largest of the stone churches is a good example, so I strongly urge you to take the opportunity.

Porvoo Cathedral