Backen Church

Umeå, Sweden

Backenkyrkan or Backen Church is the oldest church in Umeå. There was a wooden church probably already in the 13th century. In the late 1400s the archbishop of Uppsala ordered to replace it with a stone church. The current church was built between 1501-1508. Backenkyrkan was damaged badly by fire in 1893 and again in 1986, when the wooden interior was completely destroyed. The church was restored and reinaugurated in 1990.

References:

Wikipedia

Address

Häradsvägen 22, Umeå, Sweden

See all sites in Umeå

Details

Founded: 1501-1508
Category: Religious sites in Sweden
Historical period: Kalmar Union (Sweden)

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Umeå City Hall (4,6 km)
Västerbotten Museum (5,8 km)

User Reviews

Britta Norlin (14 months ago)
Would love to go to concerts here for the good sound quality Everything gets more beautiful in this beautiful church

per Svensson (16 months ago)
Very beautiful church. Gives an Embraced feeling. Can highly recommend a visit to this church.

Britt (2 years ago)
Visit to the cemetery for All Saints' Day. Neat and tidy.

Sun Traveling (2 years ago)
a place of appeasement and letting go of worldly fuss

kenneth isaksson (3 years ago)
Liten gemytlig kyrka med bra parkering mycket nära, bra för lite äldre personer

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Infomastern

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Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.

Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.

There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.