Taulumäki Church · Finnish Architecture Navigator

Architect: Elsi Borg
Competition: 1927
Completion: 1929
Themes: Churches throughout History Groundbreaking Female Architects
Category: Assembly buildings
Tags: church competition Nordic Classicism pioneering female architects plaster sacred

Taulumäki Church is one of the finest examples of monumental Nordic Classicism in Finland. It is also known as “the church of angels” as there are 24 angels painted on the walls. It was built for the parish of former Jyväskylä rural municipality after the timber-built church from 1885 was destroyed in a fire in 1918. The new axial brick-built church had 700 seats.

The church is one of the main works of architect Elsi Borg. When Borg won the architecture competition of the church in 1927, she was most likely the first female architect in the world to get a commission to design a religious building. The church was completed in 1929. Borg went on to design several churches in her career.

The monumental church was refurbished and restored in 1996. Today it is the main church of the Jyväskylän parish.