Älvsåkers kyrka

The church was built in the early medieval period, probably during the 1200s, in whitewashed grey stone with metre-thick walls typical of Romanesque parish churches in the region. It has been altered several times: an extension to the east in 1753, significant interior changes in 1822 and again in 1885, when much of the older character was lost under new floors, pews and paintwork. A thorough restoration in 1936 recovered much of the church's earlier appearance, including the older decorative paintings.

The painted ceiling is one of the church's most memorable features. The visible scheme is generally attributed, on stylistic grounds, to Ditlof Ross, commissioned in 1756, though no signed record confirms this. During restoration work in the twentieth century, conservators discovered that an even older layer of painting lay beneath, possibly the work of Sven Wernberg, predating Ross's decoration. The eventual solution kept most of Ross's ceiling while uncovering fragments of the earlier figures around the edges, so both schemes are now partially visible together.

The font, carved from soapstone in the second half of the 1200s, is considered the church's oldest furnishing. Its four-lobed bowl and base are decorated with arcading and foliage ornament associated with the so-called Starkärr workshop tradition, and it survives in relatively good condition. Other notable furnishings include two carved wooden figures of the apostles Peter and Paul, a consecration cross painted on the north wall, and a medieval stone altar slab with a relic cavity, reused when a new altar was made in 1985. Behind the altar hangs a 1985 crucifix depicting Christ as triumphant king, by the sculptor Eva Spångberg.

Outside stands a detached, octagonal white timber bell tower dating from 1768, housing two bells. The larger, cast in 1782, bears an image of King Gustav III and Queen Sofia Magdalena; the smaller was recast in 1768 and may itself derive from an older Dutch bell of 1499.

The organ, built in 1968, retains the façade of an earlier instrument from 1844, itself rebuilt more than once during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.