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Ekeby kyrka

Address
621 70, Visby
Municipality
Gotland
Denomination
Church of Sweden
Associated diocese
Diocese of Visby

Ekeby kyrka is a medieval parish church in the village of Ekeby on Gotland, serving Dalhems församling within the Diocese of Visby. Built of limestone, it stands as one of the island's most colourfully decorated medieval churches, with a history stretching back to the 1100s.



The present church is not the first on this site. The lower part of the tall, narrow west tower belonged to an earlier Romanesque stone church from the 1100s. That building was demolished around the end of the 1200s, apart from the tower, and replaced by the current chancel and nave. The tower was then heightened, probably around the same time or in the early 1300s, and given gabled walls on each side pierced by two-tiered sound openings with slender columns and tracery, topped by a pointed spire. A sacristy was added to the north side of the chancel in the 1920s.

The exterior shows a plain, unified limestone building with a small Romanesque doorway in the west and two large Gothic portals on the south side, notable for their bold multi-lobed forms and decorated capital bands. Original medieval windows survive in the east and south walls, including a chancel window with intact tracery, and three narrow coupled windows in the east wall of the chancel. Inside, the nave and chancel are nearly the same height, covered by stone vaulting, with a wide chancel arch that unites rather than divides the two spaces, giving an unusually spacious feel for a village church.

The interior is richly decorated with both medieval and later wall paintings. Large drapery motifs and a painted blind Gothic window on the north wall date from the early 1800s, the work of Jonas Gustaf Möller. Three medieval stained-glass panes from the late 1200s survive in the windows, and a well-preserved figurative painting on wood, contemporary with the chancel's construction, remains in a niche in the chancel's north wall, next to the opening of an old stair built into the thickness of the wall. Much of the painted decoration on the fittings dates from the 1740s.

Opening hours

Opening hours have not been confirmed for the current date. This does not mean the church is closed.

Check access with the parish before travelling. Services and seasonal changes can affect visits.

Dalhems församling

Ekeby kyrka

Ekeby kyrka is a medieval parish church in the village of Ekeby on Gotland, serving Dalhems församling within the Diocese of Visby. Built of limestone, it stands as one of the island's most colourfully decorated medieval churches, with a history stretching back to the 1100s.

621 70, Visby

Explore this church: Ekeby kyrka

Church information: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0. Each church page includes its credits and visiting notes.

Other churches in the same diocese

Basic listing

Tofta kyrka

Tofta kyrka is a whitewashed medieval church standing prominently in the open landscape near Tofta kyrkby on Gotland, serving Eskelhem-Tofta parish within the Diocese of Visby. Its layered building history and notable medieval furnishings make…

Eskelhems prästgård Eskelhem Prästgården 181

View church details: Tofta kyrka
Basic listing

Närs kyrka

Närs kyrka is a medieval church on Gotland, in När-Lau parish within the Diocese of Visby. Set slightly away from the village centre near the Närkån stream and several main roads, it is a fine…

c/o Pastorsexpeditionen Prästgården Burs, 62349, Stånga

View church details: Närs kyrka
Basic listing

Ganthems kyrka

Ganthems kyrka is a medieval parish church on Gotland, part of Dalhems församling within the Diocese of Visby. Built largely of local limestone, it preserves substantial Romanesque work alongside later medieval additions, and offers visitors…

622 46, Romakloster

View church details: Ganthems kyrka

Sources & credits

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: 22 Jan 2025. This is not an independent verification date.

Source record: 890fea00-baab-4a1f-bd01-c25baddd59df

Guide sources

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.

Suggest a correction

Church data retrieved 24 Sep 2026. Visiting details have not been independently verified.

Sources, licences & reuse

Independent guide

Churches in Sweden is an independent guide. It is not an official Svenska kyrkan website and does not imply sponsorship or endorsement.

Church information

Source: Svenska kyrkan — Platser, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. English adaptations by Churches in Sweden are identified on each profile. Our adaptations solely from Platser are offered under CC BY 4.0. Guides combining Wikipedia with other compatible sources are identified individually and offered under CC BY-SA 4.0; this covers that guide text, not the whole website. Separately credited third-party material retains its stated terms. Independently written descriptions are identified on their profiles. Imported material has not been independently verified. Original names and visiting details are retained; presentation is reformatted. Each profile identifies its source record and any additional supplied credits.

You may reuse the licensed church material under CC BY 4.0, including commercially, with the required attribution, licence link and indication of changes. No additional site restriction overrides those rights. The licence does not automatically cover separately credited images or map data.

Provider disclaimer

Svenska kyrkan supplies Platser data without guaranteeing that it is correct, current, complete across its organisation, or always available. The material is provided as-is and as-available, subject to the licence’s disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability.

Svenska kyrkan kan ej garantera att den data som finns i Platser:
– är korrekt.
– är aktuell.
– är komplett för hela Svenska kyrkans organisation.
– alltid är tillgänglig.

Preserved provider agreement · Full licence

Automatic diocese associations use the organisation codes from Svenska kyrkan UnitAPI. An association does not establish ownership or denomination. External editorial sources are credited separately.

Map and photographs

Map data: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL and © OpenMapTiles. Tiles and style are served by World Class Maps. Map rendering uses MapLibre GL JS. The map’s own attribution remains visible.

Photographs are credited individually with their own licence or permission. The API data licence does not automatically cover photographs. No images are imported automatically.