Karjaan kirkko ja pappila (Karis kyrka och prästgård)

English translation (from the Finnish)

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Description

The stone church of Karjaa Pyhä Katariina, with its churchyard and bell towers, is a well-preserved medieval mother parish church environment. The parsonage has stood on its present site near the church since the early 15th century.

Karjaa church lies at the southern end of Kyrksjön, together with its parsonages on the hill on the eastern shore of the lake. Next to the church stands a log pitäjäntupa from the end of the 19th century.

The church is a typical south Finnish hall church. The nave is three-aisled and five-bay, with star vaults in the central aisle and simple groin vaults in the side aisles. The wall paintings in lime-wash, added at the time of the chancel arch, include a Credo series in which twelve apostles and prophets hold scrolls with texts. The medieval sculptures are a crucifix, Pyhä Birgitta, Pyhä Lauri, Pyhä Olavi and a standing Christ. The Baroque pulpit was donated in 1703. Five funeral hatchments date from the Great Power era. The church's fixed interior dates from the turn of the 20th century.

The bell tower, which ends in an onion dome and is of the south-west Finnish type, was completed in 1768 and built under the direction of master builder Anders Takolander. Its stone ground floor is medieval and served as a tithe barn. Two medieval church bells are still in use in the tower.

A gatehouse built in 1798 on the south side leads into the churchyard, which is enclosed by a stone wall. The gatehouse on the lake side is medieval and served as the gate for those arriving at the church by water. The stone wall was completed in the 1760s, and the churchyard was previously used as a burial ground.

The parsonage on the parkland-like Pappilanmäki hill is a typical Gustavian-period central-hall building with a mansard roof, completed in 1785-1791. Its present form was shaped by low wing buildings added in the early 20th century. The yard retains a second residential building and a grain granary from the turn of the 19th century. The pitäjäntupa was built in 1876.

A new cemetery was built between the church and the parsonage in the 2000s. With its structures, it has considerably altered the open, undeveloped landscape view.

Karjaa church and parsonage are part of the nationally significant landscape area of the Mustionjoki valley.

History

Karjaa is one of the old parishes of western Uusimaa and is first mentioned in documentary sources in 1326.

The oldest part of the church is the sacristy. The vaults belong to the same building phase as the nave, which is dated to the latter half of the 15th century. The windows were enlarged and the church interior was renovated at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. In the early 20th century the interior was renovated a second time. The medieval paintings were restored in 1935-1937. Following plans by architect Lars Rejström, the church was repaired in 1978-1979, when the medieval paintings were also conserved.

Church Hill functioned as a market place until the late 1790s, after which the market was moved to the Landsbro field. The church stables that once belonged to the landscape have been demolished.