Birgitta at Vadstena

Click here to enlarge this panorama or see an ultra high-resolution version.

I'm not religious, but I wanted to make a pilgrimage of sorts to the remains of Bridget of Sweden (AKA St. Birgitta), the 14th century saint who started her own order and whose example, I suspect, strongly influenced Sweden's sense of self in the centuries that followed, up to the present day.

An epileptic since an early age, her seizures were interpreted as miraculous visions, but above all Bridget is an early feminist icon: She had eight children, yet managed to mix family life with a career, as it were, starting her own monastic order and traveling widely on pilgrimages.

Vadstena, where Bridget had her monastic HQ built, is a surprisingly beautiful city. Bridget's remains are held at the monastery's church, in one of the corners. Apparently, the chest you see in the panorama above doesn't contain Bridget's entire corpse; instead it contains a good portion of her bones, I was assured by the lady at the entrance, while some other bones were distrubuted to other churches.

And now, on to Gotland!

Comment on this entry

There are 1 comments on this article:

Monique

Country:  Se/Fr, Aug 23, 2008

What can I say!!? Mindblowing!!! Funny and intelligent commentary. Esquiete photos and a very interesting concept.
More of this please Sweden!

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