ST. OLAF'S CHURCH IS BURNT DOWN IN TYRVÄÄ, FINLAND

Today, The Grandma has been reading about St. Olaf's, the stone church from the 16th century in Tyrvää, Finland, that was burnt down by a burglar.

St. Olaf's Church in Tyrvää, in Finnish Tyrvään Pyhän Olavin kirkko and in Swedish Tyrvis San kt Olofs kyrka, is a late medieval fieldstone church in Tyrvää, Sastamala, Finland. 

It is located on the shore of lake Rautavesi. The church was built approximately in 1510-1516 and burnt down by a burglar on 21 September 1997. From 1997 to 2003 the church was rebuilt by local people and the interior paintings were created by painters Kuutti Lavonen and Osmo Rauhala.

The reconstruction of the church is documented in the book St. Olaf's Church in Tyrvää by Kuutti Lavonen, Osmo Rauhala, and Pirjo Silveri.

Tyrvää was a municipality in the Satakunta region, Turku and Pori Province, Finland. It was established in 1439 when the Tyrvää parish was separated from the parish of Karkku.

In 1915, the market town of Vammala was separated from Tyrvää, and in 1973, Tyrvää was consolidated with Vammala.

In 2009, Vammala became a part of the newly established town Sastamala.

The administrative center of the Tyrvää municipality was located north of Vammala, by the lakes Rautavesi and Liekovesi.

Tyrvää is known as the home of the prominent Finnish painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela, who was raised in Tyrvää, and the site of the medieval St. Olaf's Church.

Finland's first woman writer, Theodolinda Hahnsson was born in Tyrvää. The twin tower Tyrvää Church was built in 1855.

More information: Visit Finland

A church is a hospital for sinners,

not a museum for saints.

Pauline Phillips