A glass roof has been completed over the medieval Pälkäne ruin church in Pälkäne, Pirkanmaa, Yle reported. The church, also known as St Michael's Church, had been without a roof for more than 130 years after its roof collapsed in a storm in December 1890.
Official opening events are planned for next spring, but Yle was allowed to visit the renovated church already. The long roofless period was one reason the new roof was wanted in glass, and Carita Lindholm, chair of the protection association, chief designer and site manager, said people should still be able to see the stars and moon when they enter. “We still have the sky as our roof,” she said.
The renovation also gave the church a new slate floor, replacing a grass-growing earthen ground inside the walls. New church benches stand on the stone floor, and an illuminated charred wood cross has been raised at the altar end. Sounds echo in the space, whose materials are mainly stone and glass, but speech is clear and music performances sound beautiful.
Even without a roof, events were held in the ruin church with weather reservations, and sometimes an event had to be moved to Pälkäne's current church, built in the 1830s. Juhani Järvinen, a member of the Pälkäne parish council and vice chair of the church board who also took part in the construction project as a volunteer, said such reservations are no longer needed and the church's uses will multiply.
The protection association, founded in 2002, has aimed from the start to protect the ruin church by roofing its walls. The roof protects the ruin from weather changes, shelters visitors from rain and makes the church easier to use. The project cost about 660,000 euros.
Lindholm said the budget was kept because volunteer work made it possible to save on costs. “I am grateful for this volunteer crew and the excellent cooperation with funders, authorities and builders,” she said.