After a lazy morning of hot showers and big breakfasts in our gorgeous hotel, we hopped on a city bus (after we figured out how to buy tickets - what is old hat now in Stockholm is new again here) and rode to Gammelstad. Gammelstad is a true northern Scandinavia traditional church town and as of 1996 is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
It was cold (only 35 degrees) and sleeting slightly off and on but fascinating. In 1339 to protect their borders from Russia, Sweden sent out priests to build simple churches. The parish of Luleå was roughly the size of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg combined so people were coming from near and far to attend services every couple of weeks or so at these churches. Gradually, because of the distances traveled, people would build small church cottages around the church where they could stay overnight on church weekends. Eventually, these cottages became villages and church weekends became a time when farmers could socialize, trade, see the latest fashions, etc.
The stone church that we toured today was built in 1492 and was the largest church and church village of it's kind. The village has 408 cottages and is extremely well maintained and mostly still privately owned. Only 16 cottages are owned by anyone other than a private citizen. Three to four times a year, they still participate in the traditional Church weekend and celebrate their heritage.
Almost all of the cottages are painted red, which is true of most of the country. This red paint was made as a cheap by-product of copper mining. It also helps to defend these 17th century wooden homes against mold. The wealthier folk painted their houses in the much more expensive yellow color.
After learning all about the church village, eating some lunch and shopping for some traditional Sami handmade items, we headed back to Luleå.
Where we walked around the harbor and the small downtown.
This is a picture that I took of the sky at 3:30 p.m. today....
No comments:
Post a Comment