The Gammelstad Church Village

Gammelstad, Church Town in Luleå is an outstanding example of a Northern Scandinavian church town. More than 400 cottages, which were used on Sundays and during major religious festivals, markets and local courts, are grouped around the late medieval stone church in Gammelstad.

Photo: Gammelstad, Church Town

A church village consists of small wooden cottages built tavelled a church by church-goers from remote areas in the region, who around to the village to celebrate the major religious holidays. The reason that such villages were built in northern Sweden is precisely the long distances that many people had to cover to get to church.

 

The World Heritage site consists of the 14th-century stone church, adjacent church cottages, the Mediaeval street pattern and buildings dating back to the 17th century. The red cottages were used in their traditional way up until the 1950s. The village is now a living community, while some of the cottages are still used by church-goers, expecially in summer, when many youngsters come here for their confirmation.