Medieval churches in Sweden

Marka Church

The Romanescue style Marka Church was built in the late 1100s or early 1200s. The sacristy was added later in the Middle Ages. The original tower was demolished in 1750 and the new wooden belfry was completed in 1752. The great bell date from the year 1583 and the small one from 1751. The altarpiece date from the late 17th century as well as the Baroque-style pulpit.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Falköping, Sweden

Hemse Church

The current stone church in Hemse dates mainly from the 13th century. However, about a century earlier there was a stave church built at the same location. The surprisingly well-preserved stave church was found by chance under the floor of the stone church during a restoration in 1896, where the wooden planks of the church had served as an earlier floor. The wooden church, known as Hemse stave church, is the most well-pre ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Hemse, Sweden

Ås Church

The medieval stone church of Ås date back to the 12th century. It is the only church in Öland where the tower is located in the east side. The church was enlarged in 1770 and the interior is mainly from the 18th-19th centuries. The pulpit is very unusual; this nineteenth century work is directly above the altar, an arrangement rarely seen in Swedish churches. The church is long established as a landmark for sea ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Mörbylånga, Öland, Sweden

Hedared Stave Church

Hedared Stave Church is Sweden's only preserved medieval stave church. For a long time it was assumed Hedared stave church dated to early medieval times because it was built as a stave church. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, the archaeologist and architectural historian Emil Ekhoff argued that the church was considerably later than the stave church in Hemse on Gotland, fragments of which he had found under t ...
Founded: ca. 1500 | Location: Borås, Sweden

Färentuna Church

Färentuna Church was built around the year 1175. The nave was enlarged in the 15th century when the church was under the protection of Karl Knutsson Bonde. The enlargement was made for his daughter’s weddings because the church was too small for all people. The latest notable reconstruction was made in 1732, when the medieval tower was replaced by the present wooden cap. The pulpit of Färentuna church was ...
Founded: 1175 | Location: Ekerö, Sweden

Hall Church

Hall Church is a medieval Lutheran church in Hall on the Swedish island of Gotland. Hall Church dates from the 13th century. Oldest are the nave and choir, built in the second quarter of the century. The tower is somewhat later. Stylistically it is transitional between Romanesque and Gothic architecture. With one central column and four bays, forming two aisles, the nave of the church is the simplest structure fitting the ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Hall, Sweden

St. Nicholas' Church

St. Nicholas' Church was built in the 15th century as a three-nave hall church. It was badly damaged by fire in 1619. The font was made in the 15th century, pulpit in 1630 and altarpiece in 1675 (J. H. Wedekind).
Founded: c. 1432 | Location: Halmstad, Sweden

Levide Church

Levide Church is a largely Romanesque church of a character unique for the countryside of Gotland. Parts of the choir, notably the area around the portal, is however comparable to the northern portal of Visby Cathedral in Visby, the main town of the island. The oldest parts of the church are the aforementioned choir with its apse, dating from the late 12th century. The nave dates from the early 13th century while the tow ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Levide, Sweden

Rinkaby Church

Rinkaby Church, made of brick, dates probably from the mid-1200s. The most interesting detail are rich mural paintings in vaults. Frescoes were done by so-called Vittskövle master or his students in the 15th century. The paintings describe year seasons in peasant"s life. The pulpit dates from the 17th century.
Founded: 13th century | Location: Rinkaby, Sweden

Kågeröd Church

Kågeröd Church was built in Romanesque style probably in the late 1100s. Vaults and the tower was added probably in the 1400s. The church has been enlarged in 16th and 18th centuries. The interior is decorated with murals dating from the late 1400s. The pulpit was made in 1696 and altar in 1703. There is also a crucifix and font dating from the Middle Ages.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Kågeröd, Sweden

Raus Church

Raus Church was completed in the mid-1100s and is one of the best preserved medieval churches in Scania. The nave was enlarged in the 1400s and belfry rebuilt in 1782. The altar, made of oak, dates from 1624. The richly carved Renaissance pulpit was made also in the 1600s.
Founded: c. 1150 | Location: Helsingborg, Sweden

Tingstäde Church

A wooden church was built on the site of the current one in Tingstäde during the early 12th century. The church has later been replaced by first a Romanesque church, of which the portals survive, and later once more rebuilt in Gothic style during the 13th and 14th centuries. Few alterations have been made to the church since. The church was one of three so-called asylum churches on Gotland during the Middle Ages, a ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Tingstäde, Sweden

St. Mary's Church

St. Mary's Church (Mariakyrkan) is the oldest still used building in Sigtuna. The brick-made church was constructed in the mid-13th century and inaugurated in 1247. It was, however, completed probably in 1255, when the archbishop Jarler was buried there. The church was enlarged and sacristy added in the 1280’s. Due the Reformation King Gustav Vasa ordered to demolish the adjacent abbey in 1530 and St. Mary's became ...
Founded: 1230-1255 | Location: Sigtuna, Sweden

Stånga Church

The oldest parts of Stånga Church were built in the 12th century. The middle nave date from the early 1300s and it was designed by master Egypticus. The font, made by master Hegvald, date from the 12th century and crucifix from the late 13th century.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Gotland, Sweden

Grötlingbo Church

Grötlingbo church was built in the early 1200s and it was sanctified to St. Luke the Evangelist in 1296. The present nave and apsis were added in the mid-1300s. The tower date from the first church. The pulpit, made in 1548, was originally situated in the Visby Cathedral and brought to Grötlingbo in 1699. The font and triumph crucifix date from the 13th century.
Founded: 13th century | Location: Grötlingbo, Sweden

Gerum Church

The oldest parts of Gerum Church are the choir and apse, dating from circa 1200 and Romanesque in style. The presently visible, Gothic nave dates from a later time of the 13th century and probably replaced an earlier, Romanesque nave. The tower, which was never finished, was built circa 1300. The only non-medieval part of the church is the sacristy, built in 1835. Gerum Church is constructed of limestone. The exterior is ...
Founded: c. 1200 | Location: Gerum, Sweden

St. Nicholas’ Church

The building of three-nave stone church dedicated to St. Nicholas was started in the late 1200s, but not completed until mid-1300s. The western tower was erected in the 15th century. Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, a Swedish rebel leader against Kalmar Union and later statesman, was probably buried to the church after he was murdered in 1436. The church was restored in 1860-1899. The appearance has been influenced by English ...
Founded: Late 1200s | Location: Örebro, Sweden

Rone Church

Rone church originate from the 1200s and it was built in a Romanesque style. The present appearance was constructed around the year 1300. Mural paintings in vaults were made also in the 14th century and the ones in main nave about a century later. There is an exceptional rich interior in Rone Church. The church bell, made in 1345, is the oldest in Gotland. The pulpit was made in 1595, the font and epitaph in 1664.
Founded: 13th century | Location: Gotland, Sweden

Stora Råby Church

The first stave church in Stora Råby lied probably on the same site as the current one, stone church from the 13th century. The porch and was added in the 1400s and the tower was reconstructed in 1770s. Windows were extended in 1773 and in 1843 C. G. Brunius restored the church. The baptismal font, made of sandstone, dates from the 13th century. The pulpit was made in 1909.
Founded: 13th century | Location: Lund, Sweden

Othem Church

Othem church was built in Romanesque style in the 13th century to the site of older 12th century church. There are medieval frescoes in walls from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. The altarpiece dates from 1693 and pulpit from 1730s. 
Founded: 13th century | Location: Slite, Sweden

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

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Historic Site of the week

Königstein Fortress

Königstein Fortress is located on the left bank of the River Elbe. It is one of the largest hilltop fortifications in Europe. The 9.5 hectare rock plateau rises 240 metres above the Elbe and has over 50 buildings, some over 400 years old, that bear witness to the military and civilian life in the fortress. The rampart run of the fortress is 1,800 metres long with walls up to 42 metres high and steep sandstone faces. In the centre of the site is a 152.5 metre deep well, which is the deepest in Saxony and second deepest well in Europe.

The fortress, which for centuries was used as a state prison, is still intact and is now one of Saxony's foremost tourist attractions, with 700,000 visitors per year.

By far the oldest written record of a castle on the Königstein is found in a deed by King Wenceslas I of Bohemia dating to the year 1233. It is probable that there had been a stone castle on the Königstein as early as the 12th century. The oldest surviving structure today is the castle chapel built at the turn of the 13th century. In the years 1563 to 1569 the 152.5 metre deep well was bored into the rock within the castle - until that point the garrison of the Königstein had to obtain water from cisterns and by collecting rainwater.

Between 1589 and 1591/97 Prince-Elector Christian I of Saxony and his successor had the castle developed into the strongest fortification in Saxony. The hill was now surrounded with high walls. Buildings were erected, including the Gatehouse (Torhaus), the Streichwehr, the Old Barracks (Alte Kaserne), the Christiansburg (Friedrichsburg) and the Old Armoury (Altes Zeughaus). The second construction period followed from 1619 to 1681, during which the John George Bastion was built. The third construction period is seen as the time from 1694 to 1756, which included the expansion of the Old Barracks. From 1722 to 1725, at the behest of August the Strong, coopers under Böttger built the enormous Königstein Wine Barrel, the greatest wine barrel in the world, in the cellar of the Magdalenenburg which had a capacity of 249,838 litres. It cost 8,230 thalers, 18 groschen and 9 pfennigs. The butt, which was once completely filled with country wine from the Meißen vineyards, had to be removed again in 1818 due to its poor condition. Because of Böttger, Königstein Fortress is also the site where European porcelain started.

Even after the expansion during those periods of time there continued to be modifications and additions on the extensive plateau. The Treasury (Schatzhaus) was built from 1854 to 1855. After the fortress had been incorporated in 1871 into the fortification system of the new German Empire, battery ramparts were constructed from 1870 to 1895 with eight firing points, that were to have provided all-round defence for the fortress in case of an attack that, in the event, never came. This was at this time that the last major building work was done on the fortress.

Because Königstein Fortress was regarded as unconquerable, the Saxon monarchs retreated to it from Wittenberg and later Dresden during times of crisis and also deposited the state treasure and many works of art from the famous Zwinger here; it was also used as a country retreat due to its lovely surroundings.

The fortress played an important role in the History of Saxony, albeit less as a result of military action. The Saxon Dukes and Prince-Electors used the fortress primarily as a secure refuge during times of war, as a hunting lodge and maison de plaisance, but also as a dreaded state prison. Its actual military significance was rather marginal.

Since 1955 the fortress has been an open-air, military history museum of high touristic value.

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