Motala kyrka

An earlier stone church here has been dated to the first half of the 13th century, with archaeological traces suggesting a vaulted nave and a rounded chancel wall. Over the following centuries the building was extended piecemeal: a new chancel was added in the 1670s at the expense of a local commandant, who also established a family burial vault, and a further extension followed in 1681. By the mid-18th century the church was still considered cramped and dark, prompting an unauthorised rebuilding project begun in 1771 without official approval of the plans; the new church was nonetheless substantially complete by 1774, though it initially lacked a tower.

The tower was added in 1844 to a design by Carl-Gustaf Blom-Carlsson, combining a plain style with some neo-Gothic detailing. Today the exterior shows a mix of Gustavian and neo-Gothic character, with whitewashed walls of brick and rubble stone and a copper roof. Inside, the single-nave hall church has a barrel-vaulted wooden ceiling, and a masonry arch separates the nave from the narrower chancel, echoing older triumphal arches. A major renovation in 1902 under architect Agi Lindegren altered several features, many of which were reversed or adjusted in a further restoration of 1952–53 led by Kurt von Schmalensee, when the chancel arch was rebuilt and the tower given its present, taller form.

Among the furnishings, the Baroque altarpiece dates from 1724 and was later decorated by a local painter after being moved into the new church; it depicts the Crucifixion with attendant figures. The pulpit, made in 1851 by the Nyström brothers, hangs on the north wall of the nave, while a large oil painting of the Resurrection by Johan Zacharias Blackstadius was installed in 1856. A font in Kolmården marble and stained glass by several different artists were added during the 20th century.

The church's musical life has long been notable, centred on its historic organs. A Schiörlin organ of 1798–1800 originally stood in the west gallery, and a Setterquist organ of 1906 later replaced it behind a much-altered façade. That instrument was eventually dismantled and stored, and during this process a significant number of its pipes disappeared; some were later traced to another church's organ in Blekinge, leading to a lengthy legal case. A new mechanical organ was built behind Schiörlin's reconstructed façade in the late 1990s, and a separate two-manual choir organ was installed in 1986.