Medieval churches in Sweden
Baldringe Church
Baldringe Church was built in the late 1100s or in the beginning of 1200s in Romanesque style. The restoration was made in 1880s and some medieval mural paintings were removed. The bell tower was also added then. The baptismal font, made of limestone of Gotland, date from the 1200s as well as the triumph crucifix. The pulpit and altar were made in the 1600s. There is also a Viking Age runestone, so-called Baldringestenen, ...
Founded: ca. 1200 |
Location:
Ystad, Sweden
Högestad Church
The beautiful stone church of Högestad was built in the 12th century. The tower was added in the 14th century. The church bell date also from the 14th century. The pulpit was made in 1726. There are also fine medieval frescoes in walls.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Ystad, Sweden
Bjäresjö Church
Bjäresjö Church was built in the mid-1100s. The new nave was added in 1760 and it was enlarged in 1892. The church is very attractive due colourful and intricate frescoes from the Middle Ages. These have been somewhat heavily restored so that some of the detail has been lost, but the effect is still stunning and gives the visitor a real feeling of what the place would have been like hundreds of years ago. The i ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Ystad, Sweden
Borrie Church
Borrie Church is one of the oldest and smallest in Scania. It was probably built in the early 1100s in Anglo-Saxon style. It consisted of a nave, chancel and apse. The tower was added in the 13th century and demolished in the 19th century. The church was abandoned and left to decay before the reconstruction made in the 19th century.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Ystad, Sweden
Övraby Church
Övraby Church was built in the 1100s. The porch and tower were added in the 15th century. The church contains some interesting frescoes, whitewashed over after the Reformation and only rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century. Experts have dated these to the 12th century, making them some of the oldest surviving church frescoes in Scandinavia. The pulpit and altarpiece are both from the early 17th century.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Tomelilla, Sweden
Bromma Church
Bromma Church was built in the late 1100s. The tower and vaulting were constructed in the 1400s. The church was partially reconstructed in 1852. Also well-preserved mural paintings were found and restored then. The altarpiece was made between 1564-1627.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Ystad, Sweden
Hedeskoga Church
Hedeskoga Church was built in the mid-1100s, probably by local stone master Carl. The tower was added in the 15th century. The tympanum in a south portal is a unique detail. The pulpit date from 1652 and altar from 1714. The great bell has a mark "1471".
Founded: ca. 1150 |
Location:
Ystad, Sweden
Östra Vemmenhög Church
The original Östra (East) Vemmenhög church was built in the 1100s. The chapel was added in 1580 for many of the near Dybäck castle owners are buried there. The church was enlarged in 1743 and got its present appearance in 1860. The font, made of sandstone, date from the 12th century.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Skurup, Sweden
Värna Church
The present church in Värna was constructed in the 1500s of stone and brick. At first the church had a south entrance, but it has always had the same nave. The belfry was erected in 1860.The altarpiece with its wood sculptures was made in Germany in the mid-1400s. The pulpit is made of wood and its framework is most likely from the 1600s. Beautiful mural paintings were made in 1728 by Anders Wikström.
Founded: ca. 1500 |
Location:
Linköping, Sweden
Torpa Church
The construction of Torpa church has been dated back to the end of the 12th century. What makes this church remarkable is that it is one of the few churches that appears to have been signed by its founder. On the original reliefs on the southern doorway there is runic writing that reads ”Odulf gjorde kyrkan” (Odulf built the church). The current chapel was originally a nave in the Roman church. The vault mural ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Varberg, Sweden
Hardeberga Church
Hardeberga Church was built around the year 1200. It was enlarged and the vaulted tower and porch were added in the Middle Ages. The current tower dates mainly from the restoration made in 1909-1910. The altarpiece dates from the early 17th century and the font from the Middle Ages. The decorated roof was painted by Godfrey Pettersson in 1909. In 2003 archaeologists found the previously unknown rune carving from the nort ...
Founded: ca. 1200 |
Location:
Södra Sandby, Sweden
Vomb Church
Vomb Church was built around the year 1200 and vaults were added in the late 1400s. Mural paintings date from 13th and 15th centuries. The current tower was erected in a restoration made by Helgo Zettervall in 1871. Baptismal font, made of limestone, dates from the 13th century. The pulpit and sculptures of Apostles were made in the 16th century.
Founded: ca. 1200 |
Location:
Veberöd, Sweden
Starby Church
The original church of Starby was made of brick around 1200. In the 15th century the roof got its arches and in 1737 the decayed belfry was replaced with a new one. The current tower and main restoration was made in 1818-1819 and it was enlarged in 1854-1855. The pulpit is probably made in 1668. The altarpiece dates from 1831 and is painted by Alexander Malmkvist. The original medieval font was removed in 1819, but broug ...
Founded: ca. 1200 |
Location:
Ängelholm, Sweden
Borgeby Church
The original structure of Borgeby Church dates from the 13th century. It was extended and improved in the 18th and 19th centuries. The church is a simple, white-painted stone building with a typical Skåne church tower (similar to a form of a stepped gable). The font dates from Middle Ages. The altarpiece was painted by Mårten Eskil Winge in 1870.
Founded: ca. 1200 |
Location:
Furulund, Sweden
Stråvalla Church
Stråvalla Church was built approximately between 1100-1350. The stone church represents the Romanesque style. The weathervane is signed with year 1671 and the belfry was erected in 1739. The interior contains mural paintings that were made in the early 1500s. The original font from the 13th century is located to the Statens historiska museer in Stockholm. The font in the church dates from the 14th century. The pulpi ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Stråvalla, Sweden
Offerdal Church
Offerdal Church was built in the mid-1100s and it is one of the four oldest churches in Jämtland. It has been reconstructed and restored several times since the 17th century. There are several medieval details in the church including a thurible from the 13th or 14th century and the original door. The font was made in 1716.
Founded: ca. 1150 |
Location:
Offerdal, Sweden
Askeby Abbey Church
Askeby Abbey Church is now a Lutheran parish church. Its oldest part was built during the first half of the 12th century by King Sverker the Elder. Some decades later a convent was added to the church. The first known donations addressed to Askeby Convent are from 1162. The buildings were erected close to a manor, strategically located near the ancient road leading from the Baltic coast to the central parts of the provinc ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Askeby, Sweden
Vittskövle Church
Vittskövle Church was originally built during the 12th or 13th century. In the 15th century a chapel was built to the north side. The chapel was dedicated to Saint Anne. The tower was built in the 16th century. In the 17th century a grave chapel was built for the Barnekow family. The vaults were built in the 15th century with mural paintings from the 1480s, showing stories from Genesis. These were later painted over ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Vittskövle, Sweden
Igelösa Church
The Romanesque style apse of Igelösa Church was built in the 12th century. The tower and vaults were added in the 15th century. Two choirs were added in the 17th century. There are two sarcophagi in the so-called “Gyllenkrookska koret”, which is the grave of Axel Gyllenkrook and his wife. The current appearance dates from 1859, when the church was restored by the design of C. G. Brunius. The altarpiece an ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Lund, Sweden
Vibyggerå Old Church
The old church of Vibyggerå was first mentioned in 1314, but it was probably built in the late 1200s or early 1300s. Since then it has been reconstructed several times. After the new church was completed in 1874 the Vibyggerå old church was abandoned until 1916. The new church was then burned down by lightning and the old one had to be restored to worship use again. The interior is decorated with beautiful fr ...
Founded: ca. 1300 |
Location:
Docksta, Sweden