Gørslev church - Køge
Gørslev Church is a late Romanesque church built in large medieval bricks, probably in the 13th century.
The nave and the choir have been preserved from the original church.
As usual in this region, the tower and the porch are later Gothic additions. Around year 1500 the church was extended with a solid tower and a more fragile porch, it was also during the Gothic period that the vault above the nave and the choir were added.
On the outside of the church, you will especially notice that the old nave is supported by sturdy buttresses on both sides.
The buttresses date from the mid 19th century.
The altarpiece of the church is a carved work in auricular style from 1646. At the top it bears the signature of Christian IV and the tetragrammaton: the four Hebrew letters constituting the name of God, "Jehovah". The central panel of the altarpiece shows a carved Crucifixion group: Christ on the cross, Mary and John. The cross stands above Adam’s skull.
The side panels hold carved figures of Moses to the north with the two tables of the law and St. John the Baptist to the south, pointing to God’s Lamb taking away the sin of the world.
The Resurrection is depicted in the top panel of the altarpiece.
Resurrected Christ seems to hover over two Roman soldiers.
Above the chancel arch hangs a rood from the Catholic period of the church, with carved figures of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the disciple John.
A vicar’s report from 1755 relates that on a beam beneath the cross was written in Latin: "Oh all of you who pass here, stop and see if there is any pain that compares with mine. In the year of the Lord 1511".
Gørslev Church has very beautiful carved and painted pews from c. 1630 and a pulpit from 1611 carved by Hans Snedker of Enderslev, with figures of the four evangelists at the corners.
The baptismal font is early Gothic in Gotland limestone and presumably dates from the time the church was erected, with several carved figures in the panels between the corner ribs.
The baptismal basin is in hand beaten brass, a Netherlands work from c. 1650, the picture in the basin depicting "The Expulsion from Paradise ".
On the chancel arch behind the baptismal font can be seen an inauguration cross and a logo.
Gørslev Church also has several sepulchral monuments and a sepulchral tablet.
The church has a large 21-stop Husted organ and an angel carillon acquired for the church in 1981.