Stories of church buildings

There are some artefacts remaining from the medieval wooden churches in Jämsä. The region had everything needed for building a wooden church. The men of the parish knew log building techniques from building their own houses.

Building of the church was a special event. The church was the largest building of the parish in its time. The beams used for the church were usually cut flat on the sides; this was something that was not even done in the medieval buildings in Turku.

After the Reformation, the church interiors were enriched by the donations of aristocrats and gentry. For example, Judge Henrich Davidson and Bailiff Elias Backman donated a greenish decorated window made of lead glass to the new cruciform Jämsä church, which was finished in 1684.
Kuva: Seppo J. J. Sirkka / Eastpress
Kuva: Seppo J. J. Sirkka / Eastpress


The second church after the Reformation was built in Jämsä in the year 1826. It was a centrally raised, internally sloped, wooden cruciform church. The master builder was Johan Berg.

The current Jämsä church was built of stone in the 1920s using new methods, while still preserving the traditions of church building.

Source: Markus Hietanen, Ph.D., Suomen kivikirkot keskiajalla, Otava 2003
Kuva: Seppo J. J. Sirkka / Eastpress