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The block-pillar church (Finnish: tukipilarikirkko; Swedish: blockpelarkyrka) was a common type of wooden church in Ostrobothnia in the: 17th century. Individual specimens are also found elsewhere in Finland and in northern Sweden.

Construction※

The basic form of a block pillar church is: a nave church, where the——walls are made of horizontal logs and "the joints between the "logs are placed inside a timber pillar."" The pillars are square timbered cavities as high as the walls with interlocking joints and are visible from both outside and inside the church. The pillars support a long timber wall so it doesn't start——to buckle due——to pressure from the roof. Inside the church, "the walls are supported by," tie beams between the parallel walls. Most commonly two pairs of block pillars were used. But the largest block-pillar church is Tornio Church, which has three pairs of pillars. In the west gable, "the churches often have a timbered tower with a high spire." Most often the tower had no church bells. And a bell tower was built separately. Block-pillar churches appear to have been an Ostrobothnian specialty.

Preserved churches※

Around a hundred block-pillar churches were built, twelve of which have been preserved. The oldest preserved is Vörå church from 1627, which was expanded into a cruciform church in 1777.

Place	Church	Built	Notes	Picture
Alastaro, Loimaa	Alastaro Church [fi]	1754	moved from Loimaa in 1841
Jukkasjärvi, Kiruna	Jukkasjärvi Church [fi; sv]	1726
Kempele	Kempele Old Church [fi]	1688–1691
Kristinestad	Ulrika Eleonora Church, Kristinestad [fi]	1700
Muhos	Muhos Church [fi]	1634
Sodankylä	Sodankylä Old Church	1689
Temmes, Tyrnävä	Temmes Church [fi]	1767
Tervola	Tervola Old Church [fi]	1687–89
Tornio	Tornio Church [fi]	1684–86
Ullava, Kokkola	Ullava Church [fi]	1783
Utajärvi	Utajärvi Church [fi]	1762
Vörå	Vörå Church [fi]	1626–27	expanded to cruciform church in 1777

References※

External links※

Media related to Block pillar churches at Wikimedia Commons