  |
History of Kustaa Aadolf Church
The parish of Iisalmi, founded in 1627 and separated from the parish of Kuopio, was later divided into smaller parishes as the surrounding villages grew. Hence the following were regarded as independent parishes: Iisalmi, Pielavesi, Kiuruvesi, Lapinlahti, Vieremä and Sonkajärvi.
When Iisalmi received the official status of a town in 1891, there were actually two municipalities: the town of Iisalmi and the rural region of Iisalmi. The town formed its own parish in the early 1900’s. Thus Kustaa Aadolf Church remained the church of the rural region. The present parish of Iisalmi was formed in the early 1970’s as the previous town and rural parishes were joined. This coincided with the two municipalities being united. At present the parish of Iisalmi has two churches both in active use. This church was officially named after Gustav Adolf, the son of King Gustav III of Sweden, who granted the permission for construction. The church was always referred to as ‘The Old Church’ while its present name is fairly recent. The first church was built on the site as early as 1627. Unfortunately it was burned down during a thunderstorm in 1699. As the times were hard, the second church was poorly constructed and too small for the congregation. Moreover, it was customary to bury affluent parishioners underneath the floor of the church which resulted in an unpleasant smell in the summertime. Consequently a building permission had to be obtained from the King, and the present church was finally built in 1779. Building the church was a joint effort as members of the parish contributed to the building materials and the less wealthy participated in the construction work. The master builder was Simo Silven (Jylhä). The style is mainly Gustavian, which was prevalent at the time of construction. For example, the shape of the windows is typical of this style. The oblong shape paintings on the galleries were most likely made by Johan Fredrik Scheiderman in 1785 and 1788. He also painted an altarpiece but it was lost. However, some historians claim that the paintings on the galleries were made by Mikael Toppelius. The present altarpiece was painted by Alexandra Såltin in 1886. When the church was repaired for its centennial celebrations in the late 19th century, its appearance was made more simple and plain. For example, the Toppelius paintings were covered and the interior of the church was painted with shades of grey. The church was extensively renovated in 1927 and the style is now closer to the original. The restoration work was planned by the architect Rafael Blomstedt, who made several additions to the church:
The organ, which was built by J.A. Zachariassen, dates from 1883. It has remained unchanged although it has been repaired on several occasions. The cemetery adjacent to the church was also established in the 17th century. The oldest graves can be found next to the church. The grave of one of our national writers, Juhani Aho, is between the church and the campanile, which is situated in the immediate vicinity of the church. It was built for the second church on the site and it is regarded as one of the oldest buildings in Iisalmi, probably dating from the 18th century. The oldest and smallest bell is from 1629. There is a text ‘Anno 1629 – Gloria in excelsis Deo’ inscribed on it. The other bells are from 1738 (recast in 1934) and 1761. Further information:
|
||||||||||||||||
 sivun alkuun  tulosta sivu
|
