Bälinge kyrka

The church's oldest parts, a modest nave and narrower chancel, were raised around 1200. Building activity continued for centuries: the chancel was widened and a sacristy added in the mid-1300s, star vaults were installed in the 1400s, and the nave was lengthened westward in the 1500s, when a burial chapel and porch were also built. In 1656 the octagonal, tower-like Gyllenstierna burial chapel was added to the east, commissioned by Erik Gyllenstierna of Nynäs and his wife Beata von Yxkull, remembered in local tradition by the nickname "Pintorpafrun".

The church's interior is dominated by an extensive scheme of wall and ceiling paintings by Peder målare, executed in 1621–1622 and paid for by Ingeborg Bielkenstierna of Björksund. Drawing on German biblical woodcuts and engravings, including works after Albrecht Dürer, the paintings depict the Passion of Christ in the chancel, the Creation story with Adam and Eve, scenes from the life of Samson, and symbolic images of the four elements. Medieval consecration crosses are also painted on the pilasters between chancel and nave.

The finely carved altar screen, pulpit and gallery balustrade date from the early 1700s; the pulpit, installed in 1709, is the work of the Stockholm sculptor Daniel Kortz. A large portrait in the sacristy, signed by Johan Raam in 1678, shows the vicar Lucas Olai Gadd with his family. A major refurbishment in 1890 brought further additions to the church, including an altarpiece and two terracotta figures after Thorvaldsen, gifts from local benefactors connected to the Gripenstedt family, whose most notable member, the finance minister Johan August Gripenstedt, was buried in the churchyard in 1874.

The present organ was built in 1890 by E. A. Setterquist & Son of Örebro, replacing earlier instruments dating back to around 1700. It survives largely in its original mechanical form, with a façade designed by the architect Folke Zettervall.