Inkoon kirkko ja pappila (Ingå kyrka och prästgård)

English translation (from the Finnish)

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Description

The grey stone church of the extensive medieval parish of Inkoo, dedicated to St Nicholas, patron saint of seafarers, was built at a junction of medieval land and water routes. The crossing of Suuri Rantatie and Inkoonjoki mouth, with the church and parsonage, has formed the ecclesiastical, administrative and transport centre of the parish since the Middle Ages. At the mouth of the Inkoonjoki river, which flows into Kyrkfjärden, is a building stock typical of church villages from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including an old commercial building and a former municipal hall.

A sacristy adjoins the north wall of the rectangular nave of Inkoo grey stone church; the armoury has been demolished. The brick decoration of the east gable, which differs from other medieval churches, consists of a horizontal string course, a large cross rising above it, and groups of round niches on each side of the cross arm. Sturdy octagonal piers divide the church interior into two naves. The four-bay nave and the sacristy have simple cross vaults. The wall and vault paintings of the chancel are late medieval. On the west part of the north wall survives a fragmentary painting on the Dance of Death theme. The fixed furnishings are Empire style in their basic character.

The ground floor of the bell tower, southeast of the church, is probably medieval. At the end of the 1730s, under master builder Schultz, a three-storey timber bell tower with tarred outer walls was built on top of the extended stone section; its lowest storey has served as a storehouse. The church is surrounded by a cemetery enclosed by a grey stone wall. The stone wall was completed in 1852; cemetery extensions were made in 1918 and 1956.

The vicar's parsonage stands on its medieval site north of the church, along Suuri Rantatie, on the old road leading to Fagervik. The main building of the parsonage, dating from the end of the 1830s, is a handsome Empire-style house in its overall form and details, where attention is drawn, among other things, to the corner pilasters, the wide horizontal boarding and the moulded eaves boards. The building has a central hall, six other rooms and a kitchen. On the park-like plot are an old log granary storehouse and a handsome grey stone cowshed from the 1890s, which stands on the other side of the road leading north.

South of the church, along the river near the site of the old harbour, is a villa building constructed at the turn of the 20th century, later used as the municipal hall. The adjacent property, the so-called Köpmans, dating from the 1880s, is the oldest commercial building in the church village.

History

The Inkoo harmaakivikirkko was built using parts of an earlier, older stone church that stood on the same site. Wall structures of the earlier church, which had a narrow chancel and possibly a west tower, are visible in both the north and west walls. The stone church, dating to the end of the 13th century or to the 14th century, was extended and vaulted into its present double-nave form at the end of the 15th century.

The church burned after being set alight by lightning in 1623. After the Russian occupation during the Isonviha, new roof trusses and a pantile roof were installed in the church in 1733-1734; at the same time the gables were lowered slightly. The repair was supervised by building and masonry master Johan Friedrich Schultz. In 1818 three new window openings were made in the church, and the others were enlarged under the direction of building master Martti Tolppo. The dilapidated arms room was demolished in the 1840s, when the fixed interior fittings of the nave were also renewed according to a proposal drawn up by architect Jean Wik. The organ facades, for the organ acquired for the gallery built at the west end, were executed to a drawing by Swedish architect C.G. Blom Carlsson. The lime paintings of the chancel were restored in 1953-1954. The church was renovated in 1992 under the direction of architect Carl-Johan Slotte.

Inkoo parsonage is first mentioned in written sources in 1337. The parsonage's present main building was completed in 1836. At that time the parish was a prebend, that is a salaried estate, of the professors of theology at the University of Helsinki, its holder being professor of church history Benjamin Frosterus. The parish considered the drawings he had proposed to be grandiose, and the new drawings, which were executed, were prepared by building master Gustaf Adolphsson.

In 1915 the building south of the church, completed as the so-called Stenvall Villa, was bought to serve as the Inkoo municipal hall. A library also operated in the villa. The new municipal hall and library built later are on the other side of the road. The Köpmans shop, founded by the Russian merchant Roman Mitranoff, operated as a shop from the 1880s onwards.