S:t Laurentii kapellruin

In the oak forest just north of Brahekyrkan, on a meadow, lie the remains of S:t Laurentii Chapel. The chapel was likely built in the 1100s and may have served as a manor chapel for Husabyn on Visingsö, the royal estate when the king was on the island.

Dedicated to Saint Lawrence, the patron saint of humor, the chapel has been known since the late Middle Ages when it was listed by Bishop Hans Brask in 1515 as Laurencii in Visinxö, a chapel without a priest, under the Diocese of Linköping.

The chapel was abandoned and fell into ruin following the Reformation in the 1500s.

Excavation and Ground-Penetrating Radar Study

During an excavation in the summer of 1940 led by county antiquarian Egil Lönnberg, the foundation of the rectangular stone building, measuring 8.5 x 6.8 meters, was uncovered. The floor was paved with flat slate slabs, and along the eastern wall were the remnants of a masonry altar.

Fragments of plaster discovered during the excavation revealed that the building had been adorned with frescoes.

In 2015, ground-penetrating radar was used to survey the chapel. The analysis suggests that the chapel may have been built atop a pre-Christian burial mound. Additionally, traces of a large structure west of the ruins were detected. The purpose of this structure remains unclear—could it have been an older church or perhaps a hall?

Memorial Stone

Next to the ruins stands a memorial stone erected by Count Per Brahe the Younger.

The inscription reads:
“PET. BRAHE COM IN WISSINGSBORG L. B. IN CAIANA EREXIT HVNC LAPIDEM 1679 IN MEMORIAM CAPELLÆ ANTIQVISMAÆ,”

which translates to:
“Per Brahe, Count of Visingsborg, Baron of Kajana, erected this stone in 1679 in memory of a very ancient chapel.”

When the count had the stone placed, originally at the center of the ruin mound, the chapel was already in ruins.

The Legend of the Church Bell

According to legend, a church bell that once hung in the chapel is said to have sunk into the ground. It is rumoured that the bell can still be heard tolling during times of unrest.

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