Askeby kyrka

The building's plan reflects its shared history. It consists of two main parts: a western section that functioned as the parish church for much of the monastic period, and a long chancel built specifically for the needs of the convent. The nave, west tower and transept date from the mid-to-late twelfth century, while the original chancel was replaced in 1444 by a three-sided brick chancel, at which point the vaults were raised and decorated with limewash paintings.

The church has suffered repeated fire damage over the centuries, including a serious blaze in 1609 that largely destroyed the tower. Today only two storeys of that tower survive, no taller than the nave roof itself. Further changes followed: the northern transept was demolished in the 1870s along with other additions, the western end of the nave was walled off during rebuilding in 1876–77, and the tower rooms were restored to something closer to their medieval appearance in 1913, with further interior and exterior restoration in 1951 and 1970.

Among the church's furnishings is a limestone font of Gotland workmanship from the thirteenth century, and a carved Renaissance-period pietà. An eighteenth-century account by Carl Fredric Broocman describes an older altarpiece and records that the church had no organ until one was built in 1754; a later organ was installed in 1878, with the present instrument, behind the older façade, dating from 1951.

Beneath the ground to the south of the church lie the remains of Askeby's Cistercian nunnery, founded in the late twelfth century and in use, alongside the church, until roughly 1530. Some sources note that the medieval convent and the surrounding village have been reconstructed virtually for visitors.

The church lies on the Klosterleden pilgrim route, which runs some 250 kilometres between Krokek and Vadstena, linking eleven monastic sites representing five different monastic traditions. Askeby marks one stage on that route, and pilgrims have historically been able to arrange overnight floor space nearby, though such practical arrangements are best confirmed independently rather than assumed from older notes.