Kareby kyrka

The oldest parts of the church — the west, north and east walls of the nave — are thought to date from the 14th century, built in the typical Bohuslän style with a west tower and a rectangular nave leading to a three-sided chancel of the same width and height. The building was lengthened in 1672, and its windows were enlarged in 1738 before being replaced again in 1855. The 21-metre tower was constructed between 1669 and 1683; it houses a bell cast in Stralsund in 1621, the same year work began on the city of Gothenburg, though the bell had to be recast in Kungälv only a few years later, in 1624. The bell bears an image of a man and a woman embracing.

The wooden barrel vault ceiling, completed in 1738, was painted in 1751 by Lars Holm, who had recently finished similar work at nearby Romelanda church. The scheme depicts the Trinity above the chancel and the Last Judgement and Hell above the nave, with eight further scenes along the sides. The depiction of Hell was apparently found too troubling and was painted over in 1856; it reappeared briefly at a bishop's visitation in 1872 before being concealed again, probably during renovation in 1896. All the overpainting was eventually removed and the whole ceiling cleaned and restored in 1941.

The font's rectangular basin, carved from soapstone and dated to the 12th century, survives in good condition, set on a later wooden base. Its sides bear carved plant and animal motifs and it is attributed to a group of works associated with the stonemasons Sven and Torbjörn. A brass christening dish dates from 1640.

Several furnishings connect to the same mid-18th-century decorative campaign. The gallery front, painted by Lars Holm in 1751, shows Christ with five apostles, with two further apostles depicted on panels beneath. The altar, of grey-painted wood, encloses an older stone altar thought to be medieval. The altarpiece, probably painted in 1671 and repainted several times since — the first repainting likely also by Holm in 1751 — carries the monogram of the Danish king Christian IV. The pulpit, probably 17th-century and likely by the same craftsman as the altarpiece, was similarly painted by Holm and later repainted; it depicts the four evangelists and includes an hourglass made in 1735.

Among the smaller furnishings is a votive ship, a three-masted frigate given by a local farmer in 1819, along with an 18th-century glass chandelier thought to be of German manufacture and several later brass chandeliers. The organ, donated in 1869 and rebuilt in the 20th century, has a mechanical action with a sounding facade pipework.