Källa Abandoned Church

Öland · Sweden · Church

In the northwest corner of the churchyard lies the pre-Christian sacrificial spring that gave the parish its name — it has taken offerings and prayers for a thousand years.

The name Källa comes from a pre-Christian sacrificial spring that was christianised and dedicated to St Olaf, patron of seafarers. The spring is still there in the northwest corner of the churchyard and has drawn offerings and prayers for a thousand years — first to powers without a name, then to the saint who was to hold the sea at bay. The church beside it is built like a weapon. In the Middle Ages the east coast of Öland lay open to pirates and raiders, so the parish raised a building of several storeys: worship on the ground floor, food stores above, and loopholes under the roof. Here the parish fled when sails appeared on the horizon. In the churchyard lie grave slabs from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century. The church was abandoned in the 1800s when a new one was built inland, and since then it has stood empty with its loopholes facing the sea.

FAQ

Where is Källa Abandoned Church located?

Källa Abandoned Church is in Öland, Sweden.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.

Image: Karenina13 / CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons