diff --git a/python/core/qgsgeometry.sip b/python/core/qgsgeometry.sip
index c6c962c345c0..ac9e2729e256 100644
--- a/python/core/qgsgeometry.sip
+++ b/python/core/qgsgeometry.sip
@@ -41,6 +41,18 @@ class QgsGeometry
     /** static method that creates geometry from Wkt */
     static QgsGeometry* fromWkt( QString wkt ) /Factory/;
 
+    /** static method that creates geometry from GML2
+     @param XML representation of the geometry. GML elements are expected to be
+       in default namespace (<Point>...</Point>) or in "gml" namespace (<gml:Point>...</gml:Point>)
+     @note added in 1.9
+     */
+    static QgsGeometry* fromGML2( const QString& xmlString ) /Factory/;
+
+    /** static method that creates geometry from GML2
+      @note added in 1.9
+      */
+    static QgsGeometry* fromGML2( const QDomNode& geometryNode ) /Factory/;
+
     /** construct geometry from a point */
     static QgsGeometry* fromPoint( const QgsPoint& point ) /Factory/;
     /** construct geometry from a multipoint */
diff --git a/src/core/qgsexpression.cpp b/src/core/qgsexpression.cpp
index 8d7599ac528c..eebb757b0eff 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsexpression.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsexpression.cpp
@@ -795,21 +795,8 @@ static QVariant fcnGeomFromWKT( const QVariantList& values, QgsFeature*, QgsExpr
 }
 static QVariant fcnGeomFromGML2( const QVariantList& values, QgsFeature*, QgsExpression* parent )
 {
-  QDomDocument doc;
-  QString errorMsg;
   QString gml = getStringValue( values.at( 0 ), parent );
-  if ( !doc.setContent( gml, true, &errorMsg ) )
-    return QVariant();
-
-  QgsGeometry* geom = 0;
-  QDomElement elem = doc.documentElement();
-  if ( elem.tagName() == "Box" )
-  {
-    QgsRectangle* rect = new QgsRectangle( elem );
-    geom = QgsGeometry::fromRect( *rect );
-  }
-  else
-    geom = QgsGeometry::fromGML2( doc.documentElement() );
+  QgsGeometry* geom = QgsGeometry::fromGML2( gml );
 
   if ( geom )
     return QVariant::fromValue( *geom );
diff --git a/src/core/qgsgeometry.cpp b/src/core/qgsgeometry.cpp
index ca3a437f86ff..f027d97178c2 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsgeometry.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsgeometry.cpp
@@ -540,7 +540,7 @@ QgsGeometry* QgsGeometry::fromGML2( const QDomNode& geometryNode )
   QDomElement geometryTypeElement = geometryNode.toElement();
   QString geomType = geometryTypeElement.tagName();
 
-  if ( !( geomType == "Point" || geomType == "LineString" || geomType == "Polygon" || geomType == "MultiPoint" || geomType == "MultiLineString" || geomType == "MultiPolygon" ) )
+  if ( !( geomType == "Point" || geomType == "LineString" || geomType == "Polygon" || geomType == "MultiPoint" || geomType == "MultiLineString" || geomType == "MultiPolygon" || geomType == "Box" ) )
   {
     QDomNode geometryChild = geometryNode.firstChild();
     if ( geometryChild.isNull() )
@@ -551,7 +551,7 @@ QgsGeometry* QgsGeometry::fromGML2( const QDomNode& geometryNode )
     geomType = geometryTypeElement.tagName();
   }
 
-  if ( !( geomType == "Point" || geomType == "LineString" || geomType == "Polygon" || geomType == "MultiPoint" || geomType == "MultiLineString" || geomType == "MultiPolygon" ) )
+  if ( !( geomType == "Point" || geomType == "LineString" || geomType == "Polygon" || geomType == "MultiPoint" || geomType == "MultiLineString" || geomType == "MultiPolygon" || geomType == "Box" ) )
     return 0;
 
   if ( geomType == "Point" && g->setFromGML2Point( geometryTypeElement ) )
@@ -578,12 +578,28 @@ QgsGeometry* QgsGeometry::fromGML2( const QDomNode& geometryNode )
   {
     return g;
   }
+  else if ( geomType == "Box" )
+  {
+    return QgsGeometry::fromRect( QgsRectangle( geometryTypeElement ) );
+  }
   else //unknown type
   {
     return 0;
   }
 }
 
+QgsGeometry* QgsGeometry::fromGML2( const QString& xmlString )
+{
+  // wrap the string into a root tag to have "gml" namespace (and also as a default namespace)
+  QString xml = QString( "<tmp xmlns=\"%1\" xmlns:gml=\"%1\">%2</tmp>").arg( GML_NAMESPACE ).arg( xmlString );
+  QDomDocument doc;
+  if ( !doc.setContent( xml, true ) )
+    return 0;
+
+  return fromGML2( doc.documentElement().firstChildElement() );
+}
+
+
 bool QgsGeometry::setFromGML2Point( const QDomElement& geometryElement )
 {
   QDomNodeList coordList = geometryElement.elementsByTagNameNS( GML_NAMESPACE, "coordinates" );
diff --git a/src/core/qgsgeometry.h b/src/core/qgsgeometry.h
index e3806dec6ce0..f684cbbb9ecb 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsgeometry.h
+++ b/src/core/qgsgeometry.h
@@ -89,6 +89,13 @@ class CORE_EXPORT QgsGeometry
     /** static method that creates geometry from Wkt */
     static QgsGeometry* fromWkt( QString wkt );
 
+    /** static method that creates geometry from GML2
+     @param XML representation of the geometry. GML elements are expected to be
+       in default namespace (<Point>...</Point>) or in "gml" namespace (<gml:Point>...</gml:Point>)
+     @note added in 1.9
+     */
+    static QgsGeometry* fromGML2( const QString& xmlString );
+
     /** static method that creates geometry from GML2
       @note added in 1.9
       */
diff --git a/tests/src/core/testqgsexpression.cpp b/tests/src/core/testqgsexpression.cpp
index 8741b9222e58..ba6bcd193ad0 100644
--- a/tests/src/core/testqgsexpression.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/core/testqgsexpression.cpp
@@ -569,6 +569,20 @@ class TestQgsExpression: public QObject
       QTest::newRow( "geomFromWKT Line" ) << "geomFromWKT('" + QgsGeometry::fromPolyline( line )->exportToWkt() + "')" << ( void* ) QgsGeometry::fromPolyline( line ) << false;
       QTest::newRow( "geomFromWKT Polyline" ) << "geomFromWKT('" + QgsGeometry::fromPolyline( polyline )->exportToWkt() + "')" << ( void* ) QgsGeometry::fromPolyline( polyline ) << false;
       QTest::newRow( "geomFromWKT Polygon" ) << "geomFromWKT('" + QgsGeometry::fromPolygon( polygon )->exportToWkt() + "')" << ( void* ) QgsGeometry::fromPolygon( polygon ) << false;
+
+      // GML Point
+      QTest::newRow( "GML Point (coordinates)" ) << "geomFromGML2('<gml:Point><gml:coordinates>123,456</gml:coordinates></gml:Point>')" << ( void * ) QgsGeometry::fromPoint( point ) << false;
+      // gml:pos if from GML3
+      //QTest::newRow( "GML Point (pos)" ) << "geomFromGML2('<gml:Point srsName=\"foo\"><gml:pos srsDimension=\"2\">123 456</gml:pos></gml:Point>')" << ( void * ) QgsGeometry::fromPoint( point ) << false;
+
+      // GML Box
+      QgsRectangle rect( 135.2239, 34.4879, 135.8578, 34.8471 );
+      QTest::newRow( "GML Box" ) << "geomFromGML2('<gml:Box srsName=\"foo\"><gml:coordinates>135.2239,34.4879 135.8578,34.8471</gml:coordinates></gml:Box>')" << ( void * ) QgsGeometry::fromRect( rect ) << false;
+      // Envelope is from GML3 ?
+      //QTest::newRow( "GML Envelope" ) << "geomFromGML2('<gml:Envelope>"
+      //   "<gml:lowerCorner>135.2239 34.4879</gml:lowerCorner>"
+      //   "<gml:upperCorner>135.8578 34.8471</gml:upperCorner>"
+      // "</gml:Envelope>')" << ( void * ) QgsGeometry::fromRect( rect ) << false;
     }
 
     void eval_geometry_constructor()
@@ -744,6 +758,113 @@ class TestQgsExpression: public QObject
       QgsExpression::unsetSpecialColumn( "$var1" );
     }
 
+
+    void test_from_ogc_filter_data()
+    {
+      QTest::addColumn<QString>( "xmlText" );
+      QTest::addColumn<QString>( "dumpText" );
+
+      QTest::newRow( "=" ) << QString(
+        "<Filter><PropertyIsEqualTo>"
+          "<PropertyName>NAME</PropertyName>"
+          "<Literal>New York</Literal>"
+        "</PropertyIsEqualTo></Filter>" )
+        << QString( "NAME = 'New York'" );
+
+      QTest::newRow( ">" ) << QString(
+        "<Filter><PropertyIsGreaterThan>"
+          "<PropertyName>COUNT</PropertyName>"
+          "<Literal>3</Literal>"
+        "</PropertyIsGreaterThan></Filter>" )
+        << QString( "COUNT > 3" );
+
+      QTest::newRow( "AND" ) << QString(
+        "<ogc:Filter>"
+          "<ogc:And>"
+            "<ogc:PropertyIsGreaterThanOrEqualTo>"
+              "<ogc:PropertyName>pop</ogc:PropertyName>"
+              "<ogc:Literal>50000</ogc:Literal>"
+            "</ogc:PropertyIsGreaterThanOrEqualTo>"
+            "<ogc:PropertyIsLessThan>"
+              "<ogc:PropertyName>pop</ogc:PropertyName>"
+              "<ogc:Literal>100000</ogc:Literal>"
+            "</ogc:PropertyIsLessThan>"
+          "</ogc:And>"
+        "</ogc:Filter>" )
+        << QString( "pop >= 50000 AND pop < 100000" );
+
+      // TODO: should work also without <Literal> tags in Lower/Upper-Boundary tags?
+      QTest::newRow( "between" ) << QString(
+        "<Filter>"
+          "<PropertyIsBetween><PropertyName>POPULATION</PropertyName>"
+          "<LowerBoundary><Literal>100</Literal></LowerBoundary>"
+          "<UpperBoundary><Literal>200</Literal></UpperBoundary></PropertyIsBetween>"
+        "</Filter>" )
+        << QString( "POPULATION >= 100 AND POPULATION <= 200" );
+
+      // TODO: needs to handle different wildcards, single chars, escape chars
+      QTest::newRow( "like" ) << QString(
+        "<Filter>"
+          "<PropertyIsLike wildcard='*' singleChar='.' escape='!'>"
+          "<PropertyName>NAME</PropertyName><Literal>*QGIS*</Literal></PropertyIsLike>"
+        "</Filter>" )
+        << QString( "NAME LIKE '*QGIS*'" );
+
+      QTest::newRow( "is null" ) << QString(
+        "<Filter>"
+          "<ogc:PropertyIsNull>"
+            "<ogc:PropertyName>FIRST_NAME</ogc:PropertyName>"
+          "</ogc:PropertyIsNull>"
+        "</Filter>" )
+        << QString( "FIRST_NAME IS NULL" );
+
+      QTest::newRow( "bbox" ) << QString(
+      "<Filter>"
+        "<BBOX><PropertyName>Name>NAME</PropertyName><gml:Box srsName='foo'>"
+        "<gml:coordinates>135.2239,34.4879 135.8578,34.8471</gml:coordinates></gml:Box></BBOX>"
+      "</Filter>" )
+      << QString( "bbox($geometry, geomFromGML2('<Box srsName=\"foo\"><coordinates>135.2239,34.4879 135.8578,34.8471</coordinates></Box>'))" );
+
+      QTest::newRow( "Intersects" ) << QString(
+        "<Filter>"
+        "<Intersects>"
+           "<PropertyName>GEOMETRY</PropertyName>"
+           "<gml:Point>"
+              "<gml:coordinates>123,456</gml:coordinates>"
+           "</gml:Point>"
+        "</Intersects>"
+        "</Filter>" )
+        << QString( "intersects($geometry, geomFromGML2('<Point><coordinates>123,456</coordinates></Point>'))" );
+    }
+
+    void test_from_ogc_filter()
+    {
+      QFETCH( QString, xmlText );
+      QFETCH( QString, dumpText );
+
+      QDomDocument doc;
+      QVERIFY(doc.setContent(xmlText, true));
+      QDomElement rootElem = doc.documentElement();
+
+      QgsExpression* expr = QgsExpression::createFromOgcFilter( rootElem );
+      QVERIFY( expr );
+
+      qDebug("OGC XML  : %s", xmlText.toAscii().data() );
+      qDebug("EXPR-DUMP: %s", expr->dump().toAscii().data() );
+
+      if ( expr->hasParserError() )
+        qDebug( "ERROR: %s ", expr->parserErrorString().toAscii().data() );
+      QVERIFY( !expr->hasParserError() );
+
+      QCOMPARE( dumpText, expr->dump() );
+
+      delete expr;
+    }
+
+    void test_to_ogc_filter()
+    {
+      // TODO
+    }
 };
 
 QTEST_MAIN( TestQgsExpression )
diff --git a/tests/src/core/testqgsgeometry.cpp b/tests/src/core/testqgsgeometry.cpp
index 7ddd39bdf9a1..d64221426bab 100644
--- a/tests/src/core/testqgsgeometry.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/core/testqgsgeometry.cpp
@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ class TestQgsGeometry: public QObject
     void differenceCheck1();
     void differenceCheck2();
     void bufferCheck();
+
+    void gmlTest();
+
   private:
     /** A helper method to do a render check to see if the geometry op is as expected */
     bool renderCheck( QString theTestName, QString theComment = "" );
@@ -369,6 +372,19 @@ void TestQgsGeometry::dumpPolyline( QgsPolyline &thePolyline )
   mpPainter->drawPolyline( myPoints );
 }
 
+void TestQgsGeometry::gmlTest()
+{
+  QgsGeometry* geom = QgsGeometry::fromGML2( "<Point><coordinates>123,456</coordinates></Point>" );
+  QVERIFY( geom );
+  QVERIFY( geom->wkbType() == QGis::WKBPoint );
+  QVERIFY( geom->asPoint() == QgsPoint( 123, 456 ) );
+
+  QgsGeometry* geomBox = QgsGeometry::fromGML2( "<gml:Box srsName=\"foo\"><gml:coordinates>135.2239,34.4879 135.8578,34.8471</gml:coordinates></gml:Box>" );
+  QVERIFY( geomBox );
+  QVERIFY( geomBox->wkbType() == QGis::WKBPolygon );
+}
+
+
 QTEST_MAIN( TestQgsGeometry )
 #include "moc_testqgsgeometry.cxx"