Country Sweden Time zone CET (UTC+1) Population 479 (2014) Municipality Gotland Municipality | County Gotland County Area 38.19 km² Province Gotland | |
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Öja is a settlement on the Swedish island of Gotland. Formerly a socken, on 1 January 2016, it was reconstituted into the administrative area Öja District.
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Map of 623 33 %C3%96ja, Sweden
Geography
Öja is situated partly on the narrow southern isthmus that connects the Storsudret peninsula to Gotland and partly on the peninsula itself. The medieval Öja Church is located in the socken. The locality Burgsvik is in the west part of Öja.
One of the asteroids in the asteroid belt, 10123 Fideöja, is named after this place and the neighboring Fide socken.
Öjamadonnan
Öja is mostly known for the 1.5 m (4.9 ft), 13th century, wooden sculpture Öjamadonnan ("The Öja Madonna"), a Stabat Mater representation of the Virgin Mary. The Catholic statue was removed from the Öja Church during the Swedish Reformation and stowed away in a woodshed. It was later retrieved by Gotland Museum, renovated in 1948 and it is now displayed in the museum. A replica of the statue for Öja Church, was later made by sculptor Bertil Nyström. The sculpture has been chosen as one of the Treasured Objects in Sweden.