Skanör and Ystad - Part 2 - S:t Olof's Kyrka, the windmill and the channel- Feb 13th

After the beach, we headed off into the sand hills to explore.  I noticed a sign pointing to a church and since most churches we'd seen so far were very impressive we decided to explore.

Heading up the path to the church

I'm glad we did.  The church was S:t Olof's Kyrka (St Olof's Church) a famous church in  Skanör. The nave (main body of the church) dates from the early 13th century.  Most naves from this date tend to have flat ceilings (as they are easier to make) but St Olof's is unusual in that it was made initially with a vaulted ceiling.

In the 14th century Skanör held a highly profitable market and herring trade so the church expanded - the nave was doubled in size, the bell tower was added and the facades made.

First view of the church

Closer shot of bell tower and nave

The church was surrounded by a large graveyard that stretched to both sides:

The church and the graveyard

Second view of church and graveyard

Looking down the side of the church

The Belltower

The rear of the church - behind the altar.

Side wall

Side door

Main Entrance

After the church we headed back to the car, via an old windmill:

The Windmill

It was still early, so we decided to head out to Ystad, but first I wanted to stop at an artificial channel that was made to allow boats to cut through.  It consists of a series of lochs:

Lochs - Picture courtesy of Googlemaps as we didnt get to take any pictures there

Location of the channel

While we didn't get any photos of the loch, we did take a few shots of the harbour:

Swan in the harbor

 
 Then we headed off to Ystad - see next post