Böda kyrka

The original church at Böda was built in the second half of the 12th century as a small nave with an apse church, with a narrower chancel and a semicircular apse to the east. Sources indicate an unclear founding date, though a 14th-century missal is said to record a consecration on 17 October. During the turbulent period on Öland at the end of the 12th and into the 13th century, the church was converted into a fortified church: the apse was removed and the chancel widened to match the nave, with an upper defensive storey added along with a north transept, said to date from 1240.

By the 16th century a sacristy had been added to the northeast, later replaced by a new one to the southeast around 1700. The most significant transformation came in 1801–03 (sources also cite 1802–1803), when the church was rebuilt to designs attributed to architect Gustaf af Sillén. To save costs, the medieval church's western and southern walls were retained, while the fortified upper storey and vaults were demolished. The rebuilt church gained a west tower, a near-square nave, and an east sacristy, essentially giving the building the appearance it has today.

Further changes followed: exterior work in 1942, when render was removed from the facade, allowing examination of the older masonry and revealing new information about the medieval structure, and interior alterations in 1951. Surviving medieval masonry can still be traced in parts of the walls—reportedly from the 1200s in the southwest, the 1250s in the southeast, and the 1300s in the north and northeast—along with the proportions of the church interior and the north portal.

Among the furnishings, a red limestone font dates from 1655, attributed to the sculptor Jordan Hansson. The altarpiece was made by Jonas Berggren in 1756, with an altar painting added by Ivan Hoflund in 1913. The altar crucifix, mentioned in the introduction, is the work of Christian Berg and was acquired in 1958. A votive ship model of the brig Saga, built by Captain C. A. Aspegren of Figeholm, was donated to the church in 1943.

The gallery and pulpit both date from Sillén's early 19th-century rebuilding, the pulpit crafted by Anders Högström. The church has had at least three organs over the centuries, the earliest purchased in 1811 from Kristdala kyrka; the current mechanical organ was built by Västbo Orgelbyggeri in 1966.