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The Gammelstad Church Village in Luleå

Gammelstad Church Village charms with its 15th-century stone church, medieval streets, and its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. You'll find it in the town of Luleå, in Swedish Lapland.

What is a church village?

Gammelstad , with its church and 404 wooden buildings and a total of 552 separate rooms, is the largest and best-preserved example of a church village in Sweden.

Church villages, uniquely found in northern Scandinavia, grew in the north due to large parish areas and difficult geographical and weather conditions – factors that made it quite a trip for churchgoers to actually get to church. Solution? Build a village around the church where you could sleep overnight, meet other parishioners, and stay for weekly masses and church celebrations.

Open-air museum

The red cottages were traditionally used as intended up until the 1950s. Today, the church village is a living community and an open-air museum . Some of the cottages are still used by churchgoers for major seasonal church celebrations.

To do in Gammelstad Church Village

You can go on quaint lantern guided tours, visit a church cottage or take a ride with a horse and sleigh. You can also learn about traditional cooking, and try handicrafts such as butter churning, blacksmithing, bread baking and candle making.

Gammelstad Church Town in northern Sweden

Gammelstad Church Town is a UNESCO world heritage site in northern Sweden.The 424 wooden houses, located around the 15th-century stone church, were once used by worshipers who had to travel far to get to the church service.

Photo : Gammelstad Visitor Centre

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  • Map & transport

The Church Town of Gammelstad

Gammelstad is a unique kind of village with 424 wooden houses at the head of Gulf of Bothnia.

The town has 405 cottages with 552 chambers huddled around the early 15th-century stone church and totally there are 520 protected buildings and this give the world heritage site an outstanding value.

Sweden had total 71 church towns but only 16 remains. In Gammelstad you find the best-preserved and largest church town in Sweden. The Church Town of Gammelstad became a member of Unesco World Heritage List in 1996.

Information

Getting there.

Find routes to this destination.

Coordinates

  • Lattitude: 65.645985
  • Longitude: 22.028595

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The Church Town of Gammelstad

Guided lantern walk in Gammelstad Church Town

visit gammelstad.se

Explore the church town in the glow of lanterns

Experience the World Heritage Gammelstad Church Town in it's magical, winter surrounding. We walk together with lanterns on the snow-covered streets, visit a church cottage and if possible, the late medieval Nederluleå church.

During the lantern walk you will also learn more about the history of the church town, how the church cottages are used today and why Gammelstad Church Town is a World Heritage Site important to preserve for future generations.

The lantern walk takes 60 minutes and starts outside of the Visitor Center. You can send in a booking request under "Group bookings" or e-mail [email protected] and we'll get back to you with a price offer. The lantern walk is offered in Swedish and in English. German and French cannot be guaranteed but depends on availablity.

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More information

Aktivitet Boka online

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Gammelstad Visitor Center

Gammelstad Visitor Center finner du mitt i världsarvet Gammelstads Kyrkstad , ett stenkast från Nederluleå kyrka . Här kan du få turistinformation och lära dig mer om Gammelstads spännande historia!

Passa på att besöka den underhållande och lärorika utställningen en trappa upp i det vackra, gamla tornhuset vid Kyrktorget. Här får du veta mer om Gammelstad genom tiderna när roliga, interaktiva inslag varvas med textskärmar och mer traditionell utställningsteknik. Du får även uppleva hur det ser ut inne i en kyrkstuga, i en modell av naturlig storlek. Utställningen passar hela familjen, här finns exempelvis en liten musfamilj som guidar barnen i världsarvet och du kan bygga din egen digitala kyrkstuga.

Guidade visningar med start på Gammelstad Visitor Center erbjuds året runt. Det erbjuds öppna schemalagda visningar på fasta datum och tider. Boka redan nu på www.visitgammelstad.se/boka . 

Här finns en trevlig souvenirbutik med allt från kåsor och téer till gosedjur, böcker och pussel.

Närmaste busshållplats:

Kyrktorget/Stadsö centrum

 Foto: Susanne Lindholm

Kontaktinformation

Telefon: +46 920-45 70 10 E-post: [email protected]

Besök webbplats

Besöksadress

Kyrktorget 1 95433 Luleå

Vägbeskrivning

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Gammelstad old church town in Sweden.

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Top choice in Luleå

The Unesco World Heritage–listed Gammelstad, Sweden's largest church town, was the medieval centre of northern Sweden. The 1492-built stone Nederluleå church has a reredos worthy of a cathedral and a wonderfully opulent pulpit. It has 420 wooden houses (where the pioneers stayed during weekend pilgrimages) and six church stables remaining.

Guided tours (80kr) leave from the Gammelstad tourist office at 11am, 1pm and 3pm (mid-June to mid-August). Bus 9 runs hourly from Luleå; disembark at the Kyrkbyn stop.

Adjoining the church village is an open-air museum, Hägnan (open 11am to 5pm), a recreation of a 19th-century village, staffed by guides in period costume, which houses an ‘olde tyme’ country store.

Get In Touch

0920-45 70 10

https://www.lulea.se/gammelstad

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IMAGES

  1. Gammelstad Church Town

    visit gammelstad.se

  2. Gammelstad

    visit gammelstad.se

  3. Gammelstad Visitor Center

    visit gammelstad.se

  4. world heritage of gammelstad

    visit gammelstad.se

  5. Gammelstad

    visit gammelstad.se

  6. Gammelstad Church Town, a place to preserve

    visit gammelstad.se

VIDEO

  1. Gammelstad in Schweden Richtung Finnland. Ein Drohnenfilm

  2. 05 Olofsfors Bruk Museum und Gammelstad Kirchstadt

  3. Stockholm Walking thru Old Town Gamla Stan

  4. Folk music played on the Nyckelharpa. In a cozy and warm 500 year cottage at Gammelstad's Julmarknad

  5. Stadsvandring: Staden bakom muren (DEL 1/5: Gamla residenset)

  6. Gammelstad Church Town, summertime, Luleå

COMMENTS

  1. Gammelstad

    Se och göra. Se allt Valborgsfirande på Hägnan. 30 april 2024 18.00. Guidad visning av världsarvet Gammelstads kyrkstad. Flera datum. Gammelstad. Aktivitet, Boka online, Året runt. Nationaldagsfirande på Hägnan. 6 juni 2024 11.30. Audioguide. Året runt.

  2. Plan your visit

    Before your visit to Gammelstad. Welcome to the World Heritage Gammelstad Church Town and the open-air museum Hägnan! In Gammelstad we have something for everyone, regardless of if you want to explore the area together with others or stroll around on your own.

  3. Guided tour of the world heritage Gammelstad Church Town

    The guided tour takes 60 minutes and starts outside of the Visitor Center. We offer guided tours all year round on set dates. You can pre-book your ticket online up to a day before the tour or if you want to book on the day of the tour, kindly give us a call or send an e-mail to [email protected]. If none of the dates fit you and your group ...

  4. Gammelstad Church Town

    Group activities. Visitor Center in Gammelstad offers group activities in the World Heritage Gammelstad Church Town all year round, you can read more about our activities and events under "See and do".Send in a booking request by e-mailing [email protected] and we will get back to you with a price offer. We offer guided tours in and English and Swedish.

  5. Gammelstad Visitor Center

    Kyrktorget/Stadsö centrum. +46 920-45 70 10. [email protected]. Gammelstad Visitor Center is a place where you can learn more about Gammelstad's fascinating history.

  6. About the World Heritage Gammelstad Church Town

    Gammelstad's church town is an excelent example of the traditional church town found in northern Scandinavia. It illustrates in an extraordinary way the adaptation of traditional urban planning to the special geographical and climatological conditions that prevail in a difficult natural environment.

  7. Gammelstad

    One evening-2 concerts. 28 July 2024 19.00. View all. About us. About Gammelstad Church Town. Gammelstad - Ingen beskrivning.

  8. Visitor Center

    Discover the Visitor Center in Gammelstad. Start your visit to Gammelstad at the Visitor Center. Here we have a small souvenir shop, an exhibition about the history of the area, brochures and audioguides for rent. Here you will learn everything you need to know during your stay in Gammelstad. Welcome to stop by!

  9. Virtual visit to Gammelstad

    Visit Gammelstad virtually with Gammelstad 360. If you don't have the opportunity to visit the church town physically, you can still experience the site - through a virtual visit!

  10. Gammelstad Church Town

    Just outside Luleå you will find Gammelstad Church Town, one of Sweden's World Heritage Sites on UNESCO's list of places worth preserving. Gammelstad actually used to be Luleå's town centre up until the 17th century. Then, land uplift made the Gammelstad harbour too shallow, which meant that in 1649 the town had to be moved closer to ...

  11. FAQ for visitors

    FAQ for visitors to the world heritage Gammelstad Church Town and the open-air museum Hägnan

  12. The Gammelstad Church Village in Luleå

    What is a church village? Gammelstad, with its church and 404 wooden buildings and a total of 552 separate rooms, is the largest and best-preserved example of a church village in Sweden. Church villages, uniquely found in northern Scandinavia, grew in the north due to large parish areas and difficult geographical and weather conditions ...

  13. Gammelstad

    Gammelstad is a unique kind of village with 424 wooden houses at the head of Gulf of Bothnia. The town has 405 cottages with 552 chambers huddled around the early 15th-century stone church and totally there are 520 protected buildings and this give the world heritage site an outstanding value. Sweden had total 71 church towns but only 16 remains.

  14. Guided lantern walk in Gammelstad Church Town

    You can send in a booking request under "Group bookings" or e-mail [email protected] and we'll get back to you with a price offer. The lantern walk is offered in Swedish and in English. German and French cannot be guaranteed but depends on availablity. Link copied! More information Location. Gammelstad. Tags ...

  15. Gammelstad Church Town World Heritage Site

    See & do Gammelstad Church Town World Heritage Site. Gammelstad Church Town was included in UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1996, and is thereby covered by The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.The objects on the World Heritage List all bear unique testimony to the history of the world and mankind.

  16. Gammelstad Visitor Center

    Gammelstad Visitor Center finner du mitt i världsarvet Gammelstads Kyrkstad, ett stenkast från Nederluleå kyrka. Här kan du få turistinformation och lära dig mer om Gammelstads spännande historia! Passa på att besöka den underhållande och lärorika utställningen en trappa upp i det vackra, gamla tornhuset vid Kyrktorget. Här får du ...

  17. Gammelstad Church Town

    Gammelstad Church Town (Swedish: Gammelstads kyrkstad) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated in Gammelstaden 10 km north of Luleå, Sweden, at the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is the best preserved example of a type of town that was once widespread throughout northern Scandinavia.As Church Village of Gammelstad, Luleå, it was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1996.

  18. Gammelstads Kyrkstad (Gammelstad Church Town)

    Gammelstad Church Town, located just north of Luleå, is the largest surviving church town in northern Sweden. The picturesque village, dating back to the 15th century, boasts quaint, red-painted ...

  19. Your ultimate guide to Gammelstad church town in Swedish Lapland

    Check the full opening hours for Hägnan here. Location | Gamla Hamngatan 21, 954 33 Gammelstad (just northeast of the Nederluleä church) Tours | You can book a 1-hour guided tour of Hägnan by contacting them directly. sweden's southern gem:8 incredible things to do in småland. VISIT THE NEDERLULEÄ CHURCH.

  20. Gammelstad

    Gammelstad. The Unesco World Heritage-listed Gammelstad, Sweden's largest church town, was the medieval centre of northern Sweden. The 1492-built stone Nederluleå church has a reredos worthy of a cathedral and a wonderfully opulent pulpit. It has 420 wooden houses (where the pioneers stayed during weekend pilgrimages) and six church stables ...

  21. Gammelstaden, Luleå kommun

    Gammelstaden innan 1980 Gammelstad[ 5] är en tätort strax väster om Luleå i Luleå kommun, Norrbottens län. Gammelstaden brukar ofta beskrivas som det egentliga Luleås äldsta del. Kring kyrkan ligger Gammelstads kyrkstad med 404 kyrkstugor [ 6] i nära ursprungligt skick. Kyrkstaden finns med på Unescos världsarvslista sedan 1996.