10. The Chapel of Djurhamn

The building of Djurhamn Chapel was started by a man named Joseph Månson. He was married to Maria Furubohm, the daughter of councillor Johan Furubohm, one of Stockholm’s greatest property owners. It may be that Joseph was inspired by his father-in-law to build a chapel at Djurö. When he died in 1682, the walls, roof and tower had been built. Joseph’s son Erich Furugren and his daughter Beata took over responsibility for the church. They named it the Church of St Joseph and St Mary after their parents. However, the cost of building it had been very high, and Erich Furugren died in poverty in 1690.

It was customary for the local nobility to make gifts to new churches. One of the chandeliers in Djurö Church was donated in 1684.

There’s a crypt under the church where Captain Erich Furugren and his sister Beata Waller are buried. Legend has it that one night at the end of the 18th century, the priest was woken up by a group of several men and a woman, all in disguise who arrived by boat. They made the priest perform a burial service and a little child’s coffin was placed in the crypt. The woman was said to have been Sofia Albertina, the unmarried sister of the king, Gustav III.

The church has undergone changes during the course of several renovations. But some of the items it contains are original – like the altarpiece from 1683, which is as old as the church itself. It shows the story of the Passion and is full of symbolism. Here we see the cockerel which crowed when Peter denied Christ, the sword Peter used to cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant, the pillar which Christ was chained to when he was mocked, the holy sponge soaked in vinegar to quench his thirst and the ladder used to take him down from the cross.

Originally, the church was a rectangular space. Two extensions have since been built. To the north – the sacristy, and to the south – the baptistery. In the southern transept were the entrance and the porch. Above that was a gallery, reserved for pilots and seamen. At the end of the 19th century the southern entrance and gallery were closed off and the present day porch was opened up into the church.

To get to stop number 11 walk into the churchyard, past the garden of remembrance, turn right and follow the gravel path.