Lids kyrka

The church is a single-nave building whose north wall, unusually, has no windows — a feature that recalls the early medieval practice of leaving that side unopened, though most churches later had windows cut in. At Lid, painted blind windows were used instead, giving the wall an unusual decorative treatment. The interior walls and ceiling are richly decorated with paintings said to have been commissioned by a local knight as an act of penance. These were later whitewashed over during the 18th century, rediscovered by chance in the 1870s when a local historian happened to pass during restoration work, and only fully uncovered and restored in the 1950s.

A striking external feature is the lychgate set into the eastern churchyard wall, thought to be medieval. A staircase inside leads to an opening in the wall that may once have served as an outdoor preaching point, allowing services to be conducted for crowds gathered in the churchyard. Two rune stones stand in front of it, adding a layer of even earlier history to the site.

Among the church's furnishings is a wooden triumphal crucifix dating from the early 1200s, notable for retaining much of its original medieval colouring — a rarity for objects of this age. Other surviving medieval wooden sculptures include two depictions of the Virgin Mary, one dated to around 1400 and another to the first half of the 1300s, the latter showing traces of a hole that may once have held a relic, and a figure of Saint Erasmus probably made in the late 1400s.

The church also holds a modest collection of paintings, including a portrait said to be of Gustav II Adolf and another traditionally identified as Queen Kristina, though the resemblance is uncertain and the costume details suggest a later date; a related portrait elsewhere lends some support to the tradition. The pulpit, carved in 1625, was originally made for another church and moved to Lid later in the 17th century. A freestanding wooden bell tower beside the church dates from the mid-18th century, and the present organ was built in the 1930s, replacing an earlier 19th-century instrument.