Bälinge kyrka, one of the largest and most richly decorated medieval churches in Uppland, stands on the edge of the Uppsala plain, about ten miles north-west of the city. Its long association with Uppsala Cathedral shaped centuries of rebuilding, leaving a church that today appears largely neoclassical.
The church's oldest surviving parts, the tower and nave, are now thought to date from the second half of the 1100s or the early 1200s, built in Romanesque style, with a rounded chancel that was later demolished. During the 1300s the church was extended eastwards and a new, larger chancel built. In the 1400s brick vaults were added and the walls decorated with murals, the best known attributed to the school of Albertus Pictor; these paintings can still be seen in the chancel today.
The most sweeping change came between 1784 and 1788, when the porch, sacristy and older transepts were demolished and replaced with larger, barrel-vaulted transepts and a new sacristy. New windows were opened, the medieval nave vaults were replaced with broad tunnel vaults, and the interior took on the neoclassical character that still defines the building. A fire in 1941 destroyed the roof and the upper part of the tower, both later rebuilt, and a further restoration took place in 2008.
From the late 1200s the church was linked to the archdeacon of Uppsala Cathedral, and from 1575 until 1922 it served as a prebendary church for the archbishop, meaning its income helped support that office. This close tie to the diocese's senior clergy brought the parish considerable resources over the centuries, helping to explain its unusually fine furnishings for a rural church.
Among the notable furnishings are two medieval oak altarpieces: one made in 1471 by Johannes Stenrat, depicting the Virgin and Child with saints, and an older altarpiece from a Mälardalen workshop showing scenes of martyred saints. The church's organ has a notably ornate case, its carving attributed to the German sculptor Mårten Redtmer, who also worked on decorations for the warship Vasa; the case originally stood in Storkyrkan in Stockholm before being installed here in the 1780s, and the instrument underwent lengthy restoration work completed in the mid-2000s.
A modern altar installed during the 2008 renovation carries enamelled panels echoing the sinuous patterns of the medieval murals, a deliberate link between the church's distant past and its present-day use.
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Bälingebygdens församling
Bälingebygdens församling
Bälinge kyrka, one of the largest and most richly decorated medieval churches in Uppland, stands on the edge of the Uppsala plain, about ten miles north-west of the city. Its long association with Uppsala Cathedral shaped centuries of rebuilding, leaving a church that today appears largely neoclassical.
Kyrkbacken 4, 743 81, Bälinge
Explore this church: Bälinge kyrkaChurch information: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0. Each church page includes its credits and visiting notes.
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View church details: Katrinebergs kapellLocation and available visiting information. A fuller English guide is still to be added.
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View church details: Färila 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: 23 Sep 2026. This is not an independent verification date.
Source record: 47895eb7-2683-4342-b2ee-9458e5f5edbc
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.