Hedareds stavkyrka, near Borås in Västergötland, is Sweden's only surviving medieval stave church. Built in the early 1500s using an ancient Norwegian-style timber technique, it houses furnishings older than the building itself, including a striking medieval crucifix and a carved Madonna figure.
The church stands between Borås and Alingsås and has belonged to Sandhult-Bredareds parish, in the Diocese of Skara, since 2018. Tree-ring dating of the timber suggests construction began around 1501, though the site may have held an earlier church: a wall painting of the Coronation of the Virgin, uncovered during a 1930s renovation and painted directly onto the outer wall, is thought to date from the late 1300s and was once used to argue for an earlier building date.
Architecturally it is a simple single-nave stave church, related in type to Norway's Haltdalen stave church, with a small rectangular chancel attached to the east wall. The walls are built from curved oak stave planks held together by corner posts and a sill beam, a construction method now extremely rare in Sweden. Until the 17th or 18th century the interior had only an earthen floor and no windows; a later renovation added windows, a wooden floor, a gallery and a pulpit. The decorative paintings inside the nave date from 1735, in a folk-Baroque style.
The building narrowly escaped demolition in the 19th century, when pressure grew to merge the parish with Sandhult and dispose of the church; a museum society even expressed interest in relocating it to Lund. Hedared instead retained its status as a chapel parish and kept its church in place. Restorations in 1901, 1935 and 1995–1997 altered and later reinstated much of the church's appearance, and the interior fittings from the 1700s remain largely intact, as does the rounded medieval outline of the churchyard.
Among the furnishings, visitors can see a badly worn sandstone font bowl from around 1300, a carved oak Madonna and Child of Dutch origin dated to the late 1200s or 1300s, and a wooden figure said to depict Saint Francis of Assisi, carved by a Swedish sculptor in the medieval period. A French crucifix from the 1100s and a communion chalice from the 1200s—among the oldest in Västergötland—are also kept here, alongside the wall-painted altarpiece created shortly after the church itself was built.
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Sandhult-Bredareds församling
Sandhult-Bredareds församling
Hedareds stavkyrka, near Borås in Västergötland, is Sweden's only surviving medieval stave church. Built in the early 1500s using an ancient Norwegian-style timber technique, it houses furnishings older than the building itself, including a striking medieval crucifix and a carved Madonna figure.
Stavkyrkovägen 25, 504 92, Hedared
Explore this church: Hedareds stavkyrkaChurch information: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0. Each church page includes its credits and visiting notes.
Sventorps kyrka is a parish church in Sventorp-Forsby församling, in the Skara diocese, located in Skövde municipality in Västra Götaland. Built of natural stone, it stands on the site of a medieval predecessor and retains…
Sventorps församlingshem
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View church details: Luttra kyrkaLocation and available visiting information. A fuller English guide is still to be added.
Sveagatan 7
View church details: Ryda kyrkaSources, credits and English adaptations are identified on each church page. Provider data: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0.
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: 17 Apr 2025. This is not an independent verification date.
Source record: cc8e151a-aa01-49e3-98cf-58c228c776d4
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.