Aa Church

About

Aa Church (Danish: Aa kirke), located in Aakirkeby on the Danish island of Bornholm, is a Romanesque church dating from the 12th century. It is the parish church of Aaker Parish.

History and architecture: Aa Church, which literally means "stream church", owes its name to the two streams which run beside it. Dedicated to John the Baptist, it was first known as Sankt Hans kirke (St John's Church). A gilded figure of St John stood in the church until 1706 but was buried in the churchyard by the priest as it was attracting undue attention from Catholic prisoners during the Great Northern War. The church was built in the latter half of the 12th century in several stages. The oldest remaining sections are the choir and apse and the lower parts of the nave, all characterized by greenish sandstone and rust-brown shale from nearby Grødby Stream. The western end of the nave and the tower are made of limestone. The men's door to the south and the women's door to the north have both been preserved although the latter has been transformed into a window. The tower was originally narrower on the western side but was already widened to its current dimensions of 13 by 11 metres during the Romanesque...