Solna kyrka

SOLNA CHURCH, Our God is a mighty fortress to us.

In Fredman's song number 64, the one that begins "Fjäriln vingad", Bellman writes in the third verse. "See the little naiads of Brunnsviken raise their golden horns, and the freezing cascades are sprayed over Solna Tower." It is hard to imagine that at that time, in the early 1780s, you could see Solna Tower, i.e. Solna Church, from Brunnsviken. No, the church is not huge, but it is a castle. Solna Church is one of the three churches built in the 1180s as a fortified castle with a round tower in the middle. The other two are Bromma and Munsö. It was important to defend the entrance to Lake Mälaren. At the time, the church was located on an island called "Solön", the original name of Solna, with a strategic location for a defense facility. The church was dedicated to St. James of Compostela, the patron saint of pilgrims, and St. Martin, who shared his cloak with a frozen beggar. The sculpture of the saint, believed to have been made in Albertus Pictor's workshop in the 1470s, is today without arms and sword, and looks more like the pitiful beggar than the stately Roman knight. Incidentally, Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie at Karlberg Castle had almost all the medieval furnishings in the church removed in the 1670s to replace them with a more stately Baroque style. The paintings commissioned by Albertus Pictor were whitewashed, and the medieval altar cupboard was thrown out. But Albertus' pictures were still allowed to remain in the porch. The suite of paintings Ars Moriendi is about the art of dying. In the Middle Ages, death was more present with plague and famine. The moment of death was crucial for people's lives after death. The Church therefore wanted to use simple images to show people the right way to die. In ten frames, Albertus has painted a young man who is dying. Devils with horns on their foreheads try to tempt him not to believe, while Peter, with the keys of the kingdom of heaven, together with the angels, encourages him to hold on to his faith. It is a struggle that we do not know the end of, as the last two images are completely obliterated. We leave Solna Church with all its tombstones of famous cultural figures. Before we enter God's field on the other side of Solna Church Road, Lina Sandell gives us courage and comfort with her well-known words written on her gravestone a short distance from the church. "No one can be safer than God's little flock of children The star not in the firmament The bird not in the known nest."

From "Ingegerdsleden: Pilgrimage route for spirituality, culture and peace" published by the Church of Sweden. Available as PDF: https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/filer/Ingegerdsleden_bok.pdf