Gårdeby Kyrka
Medieval church in Gårdeby
Gårdeby Kyrka is a small rural church from the second half of the 13th century located in the small village of Gårdeby near Västra Husby, about 15 kilometers west of Söderköping.
The Gårdeby Kyrka is considered a well-preserved example of a late Romanesque church, as it has hardly undergone any structural changes in its long history. As typical for those churches, the church in Gårdeby consists of a nave, a small choir and a small semicircular apse. Also typical is the steep saddleback roof covered with wooden shingles.
The masonry of the church consists of natural stone, which was plastered around 1750. The greatest structural changes to the outer façade took place in the late Middle Ages and were essentially limited to the extension of the sacristy and the enlargement of the originally very small windows.
The interior of the church is rather modest. Walls and the wooden ceiling, which is designed as a tunnel vault, are all painted white, so that the predominantly grey-blue interior design and the natural-coloured wooden floor make a strong impression.
The oldest items within the church are from the late 17th century. These are the pulpit with canopy, the pews and an oak baptismal font. The feet of the baptismal font are decorated with carvings, as is the octagonal dome on which the year 1664 and the name of the donor of the baptismal font are placed.
