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Hille kyrka

Address
Hillevägen 158, 806 49, Gävle
Municipality
Gävle Kommun
Denomination
Church of Sweden
Associated diocese
Diocese of Uppsala

Hille kyrka stands on the Hilleåsen ridge near Gävle, a parish church of the Church of Sweden completed in 1863. It replaced a medieval church that had fallen into disrepair, and it retains some furnishings from that earlier building alongside a striking local legend.



The present church was designed by the architect Per Axel Nyström and built of grey stone with white-painted rendering. Unusually, because of the constraints of the site, it was constructed on a north-south axis rather than the traditional east-west orientation, with the chancel to the south and the tower to the north.

The medieval church it replaced is thought to have been built around 1300, with a stone body and a shingled roof and no tower of its own; bells hung instead in a separate wooden bell-house in the churchyard. A porch was reportedly added in the 1400s, and the wooden ceiling was later replaced with a brick vault decorated with medieval paintings. The building was demolished in 1862 once the decision to erect a new church had been taken.

Several objects from the older church survive. A fourteenth-century oak figure of the Virgin Mary and a bronze incense burner dated to the 1200s are recorded among the church's furnishings, along with a fifteenth-century triumphal crucifix showing the figure of Christ, which now hangs on the right-hand wall of the chancel. The chancel also contains ceiling paintings by the artist Edvard August Bergh, and a stained-glass window depicting Christ on the cross, added during a restoration in 1904.

According to local legend, the first church at Hille was founded by a woman named Hilleborg, said to have been born in Rome to a Roman mother and a Viking father from Hille. The story recounts that after her mother's death she travelled with her father to Hille, where he was killed in a clash with Vikings on the Gästrikland coast; Hilleborg survived and later helped build a church with the local community. Her face is said to be depicted on the old seal of Hille parish, though this remains a matter of tradition rather than established fact.

The church interior has been restored more than once, notably in 1904, 1954 and 2006. The most recent work included cleaning the chancel paintings, repainting the walls and pews, and installing ground-source heating; a gilded inscription in the chancel arch, which had been painted over in 1954, was also uncovered again. The pulpit was carved by Per-Olof Hillgren of Hilleby for the church's 1863 consecration, and the organ, built the same year by Erik Adolf Setterquist of Hallsberg, remains in the church.

Opening hours

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

Additional opening information is awaiting translation. Check the official visitor-information link before travelling.

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

Facilities & accessibility

  • Parking
  • Toilet
  • Charging station
  • Hearing loop
  • Ramp
  • Accessible toilet

Listed by the provider; availability has not been independently checked. An unlisted facility is not necessarily unavailable.

A listed ramp does not confirm step-free access throughout the building.

Gästrikekustens pastorat

Hille kyrka

Hille kyrka stands on the Hilleåsen ridge near Gävle, a parish church of the Church of Sweden completed in 1863. It replaced a medieval church that had fallen into disrepair, and it retains some furnishings from that earlier building alongside a striking local legend.

Hillevägen 158, 806 49, Gävle

Explore this church: Hille 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

Fågelsjö kapell

Fågelsjö kapell is a small timber chapel in the village of Fågelsjö, in the borderland between Hälsingland and Dalarna. Built by local villagers in the 1860s as a combined school and prayer house, it remains…

Fågelsjövägen 260, 82050, LOS

View church details: Fågelsjö kapell
Basic listing

Alsike kyrka

Alsike kyrka is a medieval brick church in Alsike parish, Uppsala län, standing beside the old E4 road between Stockholm and Uppsala. Its oldest parts probably date from the late 1200s, making it an unusually…

Alsike kyrka 1, 74192, KNIVSTA

View church details: Alsike 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: 14 May 2024. This is not an independent verification date.

Source record: 93e77d3e-3bfd-4395-bf65-25ea90f37870

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.

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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.