RKY: nationally significant built cultural environments · Finland
Lemin kirkko
Lemi, Etelä-Karjala, Finland
The record
- Type
- Nationally significant built cultural environment (RKY)
- Elements (as the agency lists them)
- kellotapuli, kirkko
- Character (as the agency lists it)
- kirkonkylä
- Municipality
- Lemi
- Region
- Etelä-Karjala
- Country
- Finland
- Coordinates
- 61.06127, 27.80591
- Pin
- Placed by TreeAlive at the centre of the largest area the agency maps
- RKY number
- 1387
The Finnish Heritage Agency's description
Kuvaus
Lemin kirkko, jonka on rakentanut merkittävä savitaipalelainen kirkonrakentaja Juhana Salonen, on rakennustaiteellisesti merkittävimpiä suomalaisia puukirkkoja. Se on ristivarsistaan kapeneva itäsuomalaisen puukirkkotyypin edustaja. Lisäksi kirkkosalia kattaa upea harvinainen kolmiapilaholvaus.
Kirkko sijaitsee teiden risteyksessä, uusiutuneen kuntakeskuksen sydämessä. Kirkon ja siihen liittyvän kirkkotarhan ympäristöllinen dominanssi on vielä toistaiseksi säilynyt avoimena. Kirkon kuvioitu paanukatto on jyrkkä ja päädyt aumatut. Ristikeskuksen päällä on kahdenkulmainen lanterniini.
Kirkkosalin ristivarsissa kaartuvat lautaholvit ja ristikeskuksessa kohoaa portaittaisesti välikattokupoli. Holvilautojen liitoskohtien peiterimat on koristeltu punaisella vinojuovituksella. Eri holvivyöhykkeiden reunalautojen muotoilu muistuttaa tiu´uin tai tupsuin varustettuja lambrekiinireunuksia. Muotoaihe esiintyy myös ristivarsien lehterien eturintamusten alareunoissa.
Kirkon luona ollut Johan Salosen pojan Matti Salosen 1820 rakentama itäsuomalaista kahdeksankulmaista tyyppiä edustanut tapuli paloi 1918. Sen tilalla on 1936 rakennettu arkkitehti Juhani Viisteen suunnittelema, entistä mukaileva uusi tapuli.
Historia
Lemi perustettiin 1688 Taipalsaaren emäseurakunnan kappeliksi. Seurakunta itsenäistyi 1807. Kirkko rakennettiin kirkonrakentaja Johan Salosen johdolla 1786, kuten holviin maalattu kirjoitus "Hoc Templum Aedificatum est Anno 1786 ab Aedificatore Johan Salonen" kertoo.
Itä- ja pohjoisristin kulmauksessa sijainnut sakaristo purettiin ja uuden sakaristo rakennettiin kirkon itäpäähän 1874. Kirkon korjauksessa 1926 holvin ja seinät paneloitiin kapealla ponttilaudalla. Alkuperäinen laudoitus otettiin uudelleen esille 1976 arkkitehti Juha Leiviskän johdolla tehdyssä restauroinnissa.
Further reading (as the agency lists it)
Veli-Matti Syrjö, Lappeen kihlakunnan historia II. Helsinki 1985.
Lars Pettersson, Puukirkkojen varhaisvaiheita. Ars Suomen taide 2, Keuruu 1988.
Kyrka af trä. Kyrkobyggnade under 1600- och 1700-talen i Finland, Norge och Sverige. Red. Ingrid Sjöström. Museiverket, Norsk institut for kulturminnesforskning, riksantikvarieämbetet 2000.
English translation (from the Finnish)
The text above is the record as published by the Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), in Finnish. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto); it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com
Description
Lemi church, built by Juhana Salonen, a notable church builder from Savitaipale, is one of the most architecturally significant wooden churches in Finland. It is a representative of the East Finnish wooden church type, tapering from its cross arms. In addition, the nave is covered by a splendid, rare trefoil vault.
The church stands at a road junction, in the heart of the renewed municipal centre. The environmental dominance of the church and its associated churchyard has so far remained open. The church's patterned shingle roof is steep, and the gables are aumatut. Above the crossing stands a two-sided lantern.
In the cross arms of the nave the board vaults curve, and over the crossing rises a stepped intermediate-ceiling dome. The cover battens at the joints of the vault boards are decorated with red diagonal striping. The profiles of the edge boards of the different vault zones resemble lambrequin edgings fitted with fringes or tassels. The motif also appears at the lower edges of the front panels of the galleries in the cross arms.
The bell tower near the church, built in 1820 by Matti Salonen, son of Johan Salonen, representing the East Finnish octagonal type, burned down in 1918. In its place stands a new bell tower built in 1936, designed by architect Juhani Viiste, closely following the earlier one.
History
Lemi was established in 1688 as a chapel of the mother parish of Taipalsaari. The parish became independent in 1807. The church was built under the direction of church builder Johan Salonen in 1786, as the inscription painted on the vault, "Hoc Templum Aedificatum est Anno 1786 ab Aedificatore Johan Salonen", records.
The sacristy, which had stood at the corner of the east and north cross arms, was demolished, and a new sacristy was built at the east end of the church in 1874. During repairs to the church in 1926, the vault and walls were panelled with narrow tongue-and-groove boards. The original boarding was brought back into view in the 1976 restoration carried out under architect Juha Leiviskä.