December 24 - Christmas Eve

~ Merry Christmas, Everyone! ~  

Closeup details from the astronomical clock in Lund Cathedral

 - - -

"It did seem to me there was a quality about time
which had nothing whatever to do with clocks or calendars."

Quote from the novel Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker (1940).

---

This is the last of my prescheduled "Advent Calendar" posts.

December 22 - 4th Advent Sunday

Seven-branched candlestick in Lund Cathedral.  

The seven-branched candlestick is to remind of the Menorah in the Temple in Jerusalem. The one in Lund Cathedral is from the 15th century and made of bronze. It was made in Hamburg and was transported to Lund in three parts.

The four figures at the bottom are the traditional symbols of the four evangelists in the New Testament: Angel (Matthew), Lion (Mark), Ox (Luke) and Eagle (John).

In the Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel describes a vision of four living creatures, each of which had four faces (and wings): "Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle." (Ez 1:10)

A similar scene is described in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament: "In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures ... The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle." (Revelation 4:6-8)


Very early on in Christian tradition, these creatures became symbols of the authors of the four gospels in the New Testament.

 
 

December 17 - Tuesday

From Lund, Skåne, Sweden

The city of Lund is full of charming old houses.
And in July, hollyhocks and roses in bloom everywhere.
Often flourishing in seemingly impossible places!

July 2019

December 13 - Friday - St Lucy's Day

From Lund Cathedral (Skåne, Sweden)

On 13th December here in Scandiavia we celebrate Lucia or St. Lucy's Day; a festival of light which in the past coincided with the Winter Solstice.

Lucia is celebrated in both private and public contexts. In most towns in Sweden, an official Lucia with a number of maids are elected at the beginning of December. They then spend 2-3 weeks visiting public places like hospitals and nursing homes, singing traditional Lucia songs and Christmas carols. Churches and schools and workplaces etc often have their own Lucia celebrations on the 13th of December as well.

 

Classic Lucia illustration by Jenny Nyström (1854-1946)
(God Jul = Merry Christmas)

St Lucy was a 3rd century martyr in Rome. According to legend she brought food and aid to persecuted Christians hiding in the catacombs, wearing a candle-lit wreath to light her way and leaving her hands free to carry as much food as possible. Nowadays she brings coffee and saffron buns and ginger biscuits - early in the morning while it is still dark.

(If you write Lucia into the search box on top of my blog, it will bring up more Lucia posts of mine from years gone by.)

December 12 - Thursday

Museum park 'Kulturen' in Lund, Skåne, Sweden

December 11 - Wednesday

Alcea Rosea - Stockros - Hollyhock

Lund, Skåne, Sweden

December 10 - Tuesday

A side entrance to Lund Cathedral, Skåne, Sweden

(A rather grand archway for a narrow door...)

Lund Cathedral and Astronomical Clock

Lund Cathedral (previously also shown/mentioned here in a post from the Third Day of my summer road trip in July this year) dates back to the early 12th century (and there was probably a cathedral in the same spot even earlier). Back in those days the province of Skåne was Danish; and before the Reformation the churches and cathedrals were of course Catholic. (Nowadays it belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden.) Lund was an important cultural and religious city in the Middle Ages and back in those days there were also several monasteries etc.

Because of fires and whatever other reasons, various changes were made to the cathedral over the years. Only the apse has remained unchanged (i.e. the rounded part where the altar is). 

Around 1425, an astronomical clock was installed. It has had to be renovated several times over the years (last in 2010), but is still (or again) working. I promised in my earlier post that I would get back to this clock more in detail some time - and now it's Time!

In Latin the clock is called Horologium mirabile Lundense. 

The upper board of the clock shows, among other things, the different phases of the Moon and where the Sun sets.The lower board is a calendar, with the help of which one can calculate things like when mobile religious holidays (like Easter) will fall, or the weekday of a certain date. The man in the middle of the calendar is the Patron Saint of the cathedral, St Lawrence (St Lars in Swedish).

The present calendar board is for 1923-2123 (after that, it will have to be replaced with a new one).

On top of the clock there are two knights who mark the hours by coming out to fight each other.

 
Twice a day (weekdays at noon and at 3 pm, Sundays at 1 pm and at 3 pm) the clock plays a tune (In Dulci Jubilo), and things happen with the figures in the middle of the clock:

The two guardians lift their horns, the door on the left opens, a procession of six figures present gifts to the holy Virgin and Child sitting on the throne in the middle, and then disappear back into the clock through the door to the right.

My brother and I first visited the cathedral earlier in the morning, before 10 am - but decided to go back for the "clock show" at 12. I'm glad we did, as it was a rare experience. (As it was the tourist season, there were a lot of people gathered then, and a guide to explain what was going to happen, both in Swedish and in English.)

Inspired Sunday #333

Red Brick and Roses

On our last evening in Lund (back in July) we went for a random walk along charming back streets that had me stopping at more or less every house and corner to take photos... 

I think I'll just share one now and then rather than gather them all in one post!





Ruby Tuesday Too

The Fourth Day

On the fourth day of our holiday trip, we drove from Lund down to the southwesternmost point of Sweden - the two old medieval towns of Skanör and Falsterbo - and back again.

The ruins of an old fortress at Skanör (13th century)

We had lunch at this or some similar place at Skanör harbour, and then went for a walk along the quayside.

 

From Skanör, far away in the distance to the north, we could actually see the Öresund bridge that connects Malmö and Copenhagen. (In this picture I zoomed it in with my camera.)

At Falsterbo, we visited the main bathing beach. (No, we did not go into the water... But I did walk barefoot in the sand for a bit!)

At Höllviken, we visited an odd and unique museum of amber - and various other beach finds. (More or less the whole house is actually built from driftwood, I think.)

We also visited at least four churches on this day. I'll get back to these in separate posts some time...

Skanör Church

Maglarp Church

 

Hammarlöv Church

Västra Vemmerlöv Church

We also had time to see a bit more of Lund. In the morning, before we set off to Skanör, we stopped to have a look at the old Observatory in the Town Park, which used to be part of the Astronomy Department at the University (until it was replaced by a new observatory in 2001). In the evening, we also went for a last walk in Lund to look at (among other things) the main old university building; and finished off with a stroll through the Botanical Garden.

The Observatory

The University

 

Greenhouse in the Botanical Garden, Lund

Linking to Our World Tuesday