Gammelstad Church Town World Heritage Site
Just outside Luleå is Gammelstad’s church town, one of Sweden’s 15 world
heritage sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List of places worth preserving
The church town was in fact the place where the city of Luleå was first founded in the 1620s. However, the post-ice age land uplift caused the harbour in Gammelstad to become too shallow and the town was forced to move closer to the coast in 1649. But it was in Gammelstad that Luleå’s history began. It was mainly the church, the largest late mediaeval stone church in
Northern Sweden that served as a gathering place for the locals. The amazing thing is that the church has remained in the same place since 1492 and is still in use.
Church cottages were built to house churchgoers who came from far away, as regular church
attendance was mandated by law in Sweden. Today, there are over 400 church cottages preserved and the tradition of temporary accommodation lives on.
Gammelstad Church Town was included in UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1996, and is thereby covered by The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The objects on the World Heritage List all bear unique testimony to the history of the world and mankind. They are invaluable to humanity and must be preserved for posterity. The list contains abuot 750 cultural and natural environments of which the Great Wall of China, the Great Barrier Reef of Australia and Sveaborg outside Helsinki are among the better known. As well as Gammelstad Church Town, Norrbotten also has the World Heritage Laponia, which is the largest area of wilderness in Europe.
Nearest bus stop:
