The Capella Extra Portas at Nydala Abbey

Although at first glance it may seem unremarkable, this small building is the only one of its kind remaining in Sweden. Part of the monastery of Nydala, Sweden, which was founded in 1143, it is known in Latin as a capella extra portas – chapel outside the gate – and was a standard feature of monasteries built by the Cistercian Order.

Anyone not allowed within the gates of the monastery could worship and attend Mass within these small buildings. Since women in particular would not have been allowed within the monastery, these buildings were also known as capella mulierum – women’s chapels. In Sweden, such a building was later referred to as a bondkyrka – farmer’s church.

The exact date the capella extra portas at Nydala was built is not known, but Swedish historian Ingrid Swartling wrote that it was probably sometime between the consecration of the Abbey church in 1266 and the late 14th century. With the Protestant Reformation in Sweden that began in 1527, the monastery at Nydala was dissolved and the buildings were left to fall into disrepair. In the centuries that followed, most of the original monastery buildings were either ruined, destroyed, or rebuilt beyond recognition.

In 1952, the remains of the capella extra portas at Nydala were restored. Today, it is one of the only remnants of the original monastery to look as it might have in the Middle Ages. Around it are portions of the original walls that enclosed the monastery and defined the “chapel outside the gate.”

Its unique place as Sweden’s only remaining capella extra portas is also significant from a broader perspective. The monastery of Nydala was one of the first two Cistercian monasteries in Scandinavia and one of only 17 ever built in Sweden. By comparison, in England, there were 54 Cistercian monasteries by 1152 alone, and yet only a handful of these chapels still exist there in any condition.

The rustic beauty of the building alongside the ruined walls and the adjacent cloister garden (a replica Medieval garden) make it an ideal backdrop for the Medieval festival held at Nydala Abbey (Nydala Kloster in Swedish) in the summer.