Ruokolahti Church

Ruokolahti Church
Ruokolahden kirkko
Ruokolahti Church in 2012
61°17′04″N 28°49′47″E / 61.28444°N 28.82986°E / 61.28444; 28.82986
Location	Ruokolahti
Country	Finland
Denomination	Lutheran
Website	ruokolahdenseurakunta.fi
History
Status	Parish church
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Protected
Architect(s)	Ernst Lohrmann
Style	Neogothic (partly)[1]
Completed	1854
Specifications
Capacity	c. 1,200[1]
Number of spires	1
Materials	Timber
Administration
Parish	Ruokolahti parish (Ruokolahden seurakunta)

Ruokolahti Church (Finnish: Ruokolahden kirkko, Swedish: Ruokolax kyrka) is the Lutheran church in the town centre of Ruokolahti, in south-eastern Finland, and the main church of the Ruokolahti parish.

The church was designed in 1852 by a leading architect of the mid-19th century in Finland, Ernst Lohrmann, constructed of timber, and completed in 1854.^[1][2] The belfry predates the current church by 100 years, having been built in 1752 for the previous church in the same spot.^[1] The church and belfry have been designated and protected by the Finnish Heritage Agency as a nationally important built cultural environment (Valtakunnallisesti merkittävä rakennettu kulttuuriympäristö).^[2]

The current altarpiece is a 1915 painting by Alexandra Frosterus-Såltin, titled Kristus ristillä ('Christ on the cross'). It is her 50th and final altarpiece.^[1]

Ruokolahti Church is featured in a famous 1887 painting by Albert Edelfelt, Ruokolahden eukkoja kirkonmäellä (lit. 'Women outside the Church at Ruokolahti'), housed in the Ateneum art museum of the Finnish National Gallery in Helsinki.^[3]

Finnish veteran Simo Häyhä, known better by his epithet the "White death" is buried in the graveyard.