Monday 30 November 2009

Cathedral at Tampere

We went for a drive over to Tampere this weekend, mainly because I wanted to see the interior of the cathedral at Tampere. I also wanted to see some of the artwork of Hugo Simberg

The ground floor entrance reveals a moody interior with great architecture. The ceiling above supports the second floor ...




There are a few reasons I'm interested in it ... firstly (while its not large) its beautifully designed and decorated inside, especially when you consider that its a Lutheran Cathedral.

It shows an interesting Gothic sort of character, combined with the traditional central European sorts of things (like the organ). Looking towards the back, you can see the second floor "balcony seats".


TampereCathedralAisle

This shot is an ultra wide, showing from the pews up to the interestingly decorated ceiling, note the use of "wings" to fill in arches and the serpent over there in the top right hand corner at the top of the dome.

TampereCathedralInterior2

The Resurrection meaning

Probably the most striking feature for me however is the lovely art work behind the Altar. Unlike so many churches with a crucifix depicting the death of Jesus on the cross, this has a beautiful artwork which has is depicting the rise of the dead to the after life.

TampereCathedralAltar

To me, this is so much more the message of salvation (which is supposedly what the church is sending) than a depressing one of sacrifice and suffering which is usually sent.

Lastly, a view from the 'balcony seats'



I love it ...

2 comments:

Noons said...

What's the symbology of the serpent?
Something to do with healing?
Not very familiar with the Lutherans...

obakesan said...

I believe its the same serpent of tempation ... Lutherans are (normally) more plain and austere than this cathedral ... I'll do some interiors of the church at Heinavesi and blog that one next time I'm visiting the grandparents ... give me a good excuse to get away ;-)