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Alkavare kapell

Address
Borgargatan 9, 96231, Jokkmokk
Municipality
Jokkmokks Kommun
Denomination
Church of Sweden
Associated diocese
Diocese of Luleå

Alkavare kapell is a remote mountain chapel in Jokkmokk parish, Luleå diocese, standing within Sarek National Park at over 760 metres above sea level. Built in 1788 to serve Sámi communities during their summer stay on the fells, it remains one of Sweden's most isolated churches.



The chapel was constructed in 1788 as a place of worship for the Sámi population who lived and worked on the open mountain during summer months. It is a small building, roughly seven by four metres, with walls of dry-stacked local stone and an original timber roof reportedly hauled up from Kvikkjokk, some sixty kilometres away. Three small windows, each with sixteen panes, light the interior: one beside the door on the south wall, one on the north wall, and one at the eastern end.

Services were originally held once a year, on 25 July, and the journey to conduct them from Kvikkjokk was said to take three days each way. Sometime between 1857 and 1863 these preaching journeys ceased, and the chapel was left to decay; by the early twentieth century parts of the roof were missing. It was later restored and rededicated in 1961. No churchyard was ever established at the site.

The chapel stands close to the site of former silver-ore mining that supplied the Luleå silver works in the late seventeenth century, although the building itself has no direct connection to that mining activity, which ended in 1702.

In its early years the chapel had no pews, and worshippers stood throughout services. Pews now inside the chapel, along with its bell and some furnishings, are said to have been donated by the mountain-hiking club Skarja.

The chapel lies within an area designated of national interest for cultural heritage conservation in Norrbotten.

Opening hours

Opening hours have not been confirmed for the current date. This does not mean the church is closed.

Check access with the parish before travelling. Services and seasonal changes can affect visits.

Jokkmokks församling

Alkavare kapell

Alkavare kapell is a remote mountain chapel in Jokkmokk parish, Luleå diocese, standing within Sarek National Park at over 760 metres above sea level. Built in 1788 to serve Sámi communities during their summer stay on the fells, it remains one of Sweden's most isolated churches.

Borgargatan 9, 96231, Jokkmokk

Explore this church: Alkavare kapell

Church information: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0. Each church page includes its credits and visiting notes.

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Sources & credits

Provider catalogue data: Svenska kyrkan, Platser, CC BY 4.0. Separately credited descriptions retain their stated source and licence terms. Catalogue and visiting data reformatted from the provider. The English guide combines and abridges separately credited sources below.

Provider record updated: 8 Jun 2022. This is not an independent verification date.

Source record: 6bf0f50d-ccda-456d-98ea-19380dd1d7e2

Guide sources

This English guide combines, abridges and translates the sources below with AI assistance, with editorial contributions by Churches in Sweden. It has not been independently verified. The adapted guide text is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photographs and map data have their own terms.

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Church data retrieved 24 Sep 2026. Visiting details have not been independently verified.

Sources, licences & reuse

Independent guide

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Church information

Source: Svenska kyrkan — Platser, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. English adaptations by Churches in Sweden are identified on each profile. Our adaptations solely from Platser are offered under CC BY 4.0. Guides combining Wikipedia with other compatible sources are identified individually and offered under CC BY-SA 4.0; this covers that guide text, not the whole website. Separately credited third-party material retains its stated terms. Independently written descriptions are identified on their profiles. Imported material has not been independently verified. Original names and visiting details are retained; presentation is reformatted. Each profile identifies its source record and any additional supplied credits.

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Provider disclaimer

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Svenska kyrkan kan ej garantera att den data som finns i Platser:
– är korrekt.
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– är komplett för hela Svenska kyrkans organisation.
– alltid är tillgänglig.

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Map and photographs

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