Sollerö kyrka

The island's first church was a wooden chapel built in the early 1500s, with a rectangular nave, a straight-ended chancel, a sacristy to the north and a porch to the south. It was extended westward in 1731. For generations the islanders had campaigned for their own parish and priest, separate from Mora, having long been required to cross the lake by church boat to attend services there. Their persistence, including an appeal to the king after being fined for failing to make a stormy crossing in 1773, eventually secured permission in 1775 to form an independent parish.

Planning for a new church began soon after, though progress was slow. The churchyard was consecrated in 1777, and the present stone church was built between 1779 and 1785 to designs by the architect Olof Tempelman. The last service in the old chapel was held in 1781. A weathercock was fitted in 1786, and the altarpiece and pulpit were completed by the local craftsman Krång Lars Ersson in 1795. The tower clock, made in nearby Östnor, followed in 1818. The church was renovated in 1910 under the direction of architect Ragnar Östberg.

Built of sandstone and red granite with brick detailing, the church has a cross-shaped plan: a nave with a straight chancel to the east, a sacristy beyond it, transept arms to north and south, and a tall tower with a distinctive spire to the west. Inside, brick vaulting covers the nave, with a cross vault over the crossing and barrel vaults to east and west.

Among the furnishings, the altar and pulpit made by Krång Lars Ersson in 1795 are of particular local interest. A small carved crucifix hangs above the altar; it survives from the earlier chapel and is thought to date from the 1500s, with paintwork added around the mid-1600s. The font, carved from local red Sollerön granite, was made in 1930 to a design by the architect Magnus Dahlander. A church bell dating from 1530 still hangs in the tower, one of the oldest objects associated with the site.

The church has had more than one organ over its history. An instrument from the 1860s was installed in 1888 and used until 1910, when it was replaced by a new organ from the Örebro firm E. A. Setterquist & Son. The current mechanical organ, with its own case, was built in 1958 by Olof Hammarberg of Gothenburg and has 24 stops.