Class Field Trip to Östergötland

It's 8:00 on a Tuesday morning and the SVF College Line is hopping on a coach bus for a day of
six viewing and learning stops within 2 hours distance from the campus.  Lucky me to be able to join this group!

Stop #1: Heda Medelina Kyrka
The oldest parts of this medieval church were built in the early 1100s.  Late in the 13th century it was renovated.  Between 1855 and 1858, the church was enlarged. Today the church is still being used by its congregation. Also in this church:  its fine collection of wooden sculptures - the oldest being The Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven - being admired, still, after her 800 some years in existence.  It's possible this wooden Mary was in hiding in the 1500s after King Gustav Vasa removed the Catholic presence in Sweden.
This tower is the oldest part of the building.
Church interior #1
 
Church interior #2
 
Church interior #3
 Here is the famous Heda Madonna:
One last parting shot of this beautiful old church and we are on our way to the next stop.

Stop #2: Rokstenen/The Rune Stone
Though this is the oldest example of Swedish literature dating to the 900s AD, experts say the 760 characters on the stone are not a tale of heroic feats, wars and warrior kings. Instead, its possible that the front side of the stone refers to daylight and the back side has do do with a story about carving the riddles on the front side of the stone. Yes, but ??????


 Yes, it was fun to get up close and personal with this old rune stone, but equally fun (for me) was to have a fika with kanelbullar (cinnamon rolls) at the same site!


 Stop #3: Sancta Birgitta Museum - Vadstena
But, first a walk by this beautiful castle that we couldn't get inside of. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Vadstena Slott, built in 1545. Now home to a museum, and venue for opera, theatre and concerts.
 Here's the Convent Museum after walking by the castle along the waterfront of Lake Vattern.


 Originally built as a royal palace in the 13th century, this palace was transformed into a convent
in the 14th century after Birgitta Birgersdotter Gudmarsson had a vision to do so. (She was one
strong woman - the mother of 8 had over 600 "divine revelations" and eventually set out to repair a decayed church in the name of God.  However, she needed the Pope's permission to do so and traveled to Rome to meet the Pope during the war and deadly plagues.  When the Pope wasn't there, Birgitta waited 20 years for permission to be granted, actually dying in Rome at age 70.  She never got to see her convent completed, but it was.) The convent was inaugurated in 1384, was shut down during the last years of the 16th century due to Gustav Vasa's stance on Catholicism. After that time, the building housed a veteran's home, a prison and a mental hospital. During the 1950s and 1960s
renovations occurred here with new, historical discoveries uncovered.
Might I say here that a good tour guide makes a huge difference? She was amazing!
View of the 59 rooms in the upper level of the convent.
One of the rooms in the museum had costumes options.
There was nun there, too.  A wax nun that was a little too real looking.
By then it was lunch time.
We ate at Vadstena folkhogskola nearby.



Then, Stop # 4: Klosterkyrkan/Abbey Church
Begun in 1369, this church was consecrated in 1430 in the presence of King Erik of Pommern. Birgitta (see #3 above) left specific instructions that this church should not be highly decorated with tapestries and gold.  Simple, not ornate.  Statues would be allowed.

I thought this church was truly memorable and beautiful.

There's some excavation work going on presently.
Interior #1
Interior #2
Interior #3
Interior #4
Walking back through Vadstena to get to our bus was next.

 
On to Stop #5: Alvastra Klosterruin/Abbey Ruins
This was one of my favorite stops!
This was a monastery when it was founded in the first half of the 12th century by a donation of land from King Sverker I of Sweden.  The Protestant Reformation caused this monastery to be dissolved.






 So much to take in; on to Stop #6: Petroglyphs in Hastholmen

This site of "rock art" dates to mainly the Bronze Age . We walked on a nondescript path, turned the corner, walked through a grassy area and bam...a large area with a series of flat rocks with carvings in them that are older than anything else we've viewed today!  No one else was with us but our group.
In the middle of nowhere. 





What a day.  What a (long) history here in our neck of the (Swedish) woods, farms, villages and cities. 
The group was pretty exhausted by this time, but perked up when there was one last 
stop on the way home to buy polkagrisar.


 

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