The Voice of the Aland Churches

The 12 medieval stone churches of Åland form an independent and fascinating group without any written records to shed light on their history. The new book The Voice of the Åland Churches,written by art historian Åsa Ringbom, uses the churches themselves as historical sources and is the result of [...]
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The 12 medieval stone churches of Åland form an independent and fascinating group without any written records to shed light on their history. The new book The Voice of the Åland Churches,written by art historian Åsa Ringbom, uses the churches themselves as historical sources and is the result of twenty years of research in the origin and age of these churches. Åland, a cluster of islands between Finland and Sweden, forms one of the so called Baltic Islands together with Gotland, Öland, Saarenmaa and Bornholm. In the Catholic Middle Ages it belonged to Sweden together with the rest of Finland. The churches are the only buildings on Åland in continuous use since the Middle Ages. For centuries they have been the center of life and society, thus reflecting local history. The Voice of the Åland Churches presents an updated version of the building history of the 12 medieval stone churches of Åland. Thorough analysis of their well-preserved interior decorations and fittings now makes it possible to present a clearer view of thehistory of the Islands during important centuries. Nowhere else have churches been so thoroughly researched as in the Åland Islands. In this book the chronology of the Åland churches is, for the first time, based on objective scientific analysis. The churches have been investigated before, and many experts have presented their individual views on the chronology. The information has, however, been contradictory, and the ages suggested have varied by several centuries.