page_title: Stånga Church
section_title: Exterior
hierarchical_section_title: Stånga Church / Architecture / Exterior
caption_attribution_description: Svenska: Portalen med skulpturer av Egypticus
context_page_description: Stånga Church is a medieval church in Stånga on the Swedish island of Gotland. The site of the church has probably been considered sacred since before the Christianization of Scandinavia.
  The oldest parts of the current stone church date from the first half of the 13th century when an earlier wooden church was replaced. The building was substantially altered during the 14th century with the construction of a new nave. Most likely, the intent was to rebuild the entire edifice, but this did not occur for unknown reasons. A group of large Gothic sculptures, currently immured next to the south portal of the church, was possibly intended for a new tower that was never built. These sculptures are among the most unusual Gothic works of art in Sweden.
  In the 19th century, when the chancel and the apse of the church had to be replaced due to structural damage, the congregation chose to rebuild them as similar as possible to the medieval building. The church belongs to the Church of Sweden and lies in the Diocese of Visby.
context_section_description: The main construction material of Stånga Church is grey limestone with more finely hewn limestone of differing shades as well as sandstone used in some details. Apart from the sculpted elements, the corners and the base of the church, the whole facade is whitewashed. The nave, like many Gotlandic churches, lacks windows facing north. The three windows of the apse and the one in the chancel are round-arched, while the nave has a single, Gothic pointed-arch window, with tracery, that is divided in two by a central limestone post. The tower likewise has a single Gothic window facing south, dating from the re-building during the 14th century. Medieval stained glass almost certainly decorated all the windows of the church originally, but no traces of it survive today. 
  The five-storey tower is one of the tallest on Gotland, comparable only to the towers of Dalhem, Rone and Öja churches. The church bells hang in the fourth storey. The first storey has two narrow openings, one of which may have been intended as an arrowslit. This would mean that the tower could have served as a refuge for the congregation in times of danger. The second storey has a larger, round-arched opening to the west, which was probably used together with a mechanical winch to bring items into the room behind it. Such an arrangement is known from Etelhem Church. The storage room in the tower may have been used as a tithe barn. Beginning with the fourth storey, there are bell openings. There are two of these on each side of the tower on the fourth floor and similarly on the fifth floor. Finally, above each of these, there is a single opening, one in each direction. Gothic in style, several of them have been repaired and have had their original tracery replaced. The tower is crowned by an octagonal wooden spire. It has also been repaired and renewed occasionally.
  The door in the main portal of the church is from the 19th century, but it contains decorative ironwork from an earlier, 14th-century door. There is also an iron rod attached to the door. This is a medieval measuring instrument with an inscription declaring that it is the correct length of one ell. Apart from the main portal, the church has an entrance in the west wall of the tower and one in the south wall of the chancel. The chancel portal, a copy of an earlier portal on the same location, dates from 1864. The tower portal is similar to the chancel portal, but larger. It is made of alternating reddish and grey limestone. It was repaired in the 1890s.
caption: The main portal and adjacent sculptures
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