Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
briefest glimpse of the “King of the Forest”, Europe's largest land animal, as tall as a
horse but with antlers. The farm, though, provides an excellent opportunity to come
face to face with these cumbersome-looking beasts and to learn all about their
behaviour from the knowledgeable staff, who also make cheese from elk milk - a rare
and inordinately expensive delicacy. Incidentally, elk love bananas, so you may wish to
pack a few for your visit.
Skellefteå
There used to be a religious fervour about the town
SKELLEFTEÅ
, 140km northeast of
Umeå. In 1324, an edict in the name of King Magnus Eriksson invited “all those who
believed in Jesus Christ or wanted to turn to him” to settle between the Skellefte and
Ume rivers. Many heeded the call, and parishes mushroomed on the banks of the
Skellefte River. By the end of the eighteenth century, a devout township was centred
around the town's monumental church, which stood out in stark contrast to the
surrounding plains and wide river. Nowadays, though, more material occupations,
including computer and electronics industries, and the mining of gold and silver,
support the town. Since there's little to see in the town centre you would fare better
concentrating on nearby
Bonnstan
, comprising an engaging collection of battered log
cottages gathered together to form the
kyrkstad
(church town), plus the proud
Neoclassical
church
, which houses one of Norrland's proudest exhibits - the
medieval
carving
of the Virgin of Skellefteå.
Nearby, the rickety
Lejonströmsbron
is Sweden's oldest wooden bridge, offering
elevated views of the Skellefte River. Skellefteå is also well placed for jaunts into the
Swedish inland with good bus connections to Arvidsjaur and Arjeplog.
7
Bonnstan
Skellefteå's church and
church town
, known as
Bonnstan
, are within easy striking
distance of the centre: walk west along Nygatan and keep going for about fifteen
minutes. An evocative sight, the
kyrkstad
(see box below) here comprises five long
rows of weather-beaten log houses, with battered wooden shutters. The houses are
protected by law: any renovations, including the installation of electricity, are
forbidden, making this the most genuine example of all Sweden's church towns. You
SWEDEN'S CHURCH TOWNS
After the break with the Catholic Church in 1527, the Swedish clergy were determined to
teach their parishioners the Lutheran fundamentals, with the result that, by 1681, church
services had become compulsory. There was one problem with this requirement, though - the
population in the north was spread over considerable distances, making weekly attendance
impossible. The clergy and the parishes agreed a compromise: it was decreed that those living
within 10km of the church should attend every Sunday; those between 10km and 20km away,
every fortnight; and those 20-30km away, every three weeks. The scheme worked, and within
a decade,
church towns
(
kyrkstäder
) had appeared throughout the region to provide the
travelling faithful with somewhere to spend the night after a day of praying and listening to
powerful sermons.
Of the 71 church towns Sweden originally had, only eighteen are left today, predominantly
in the provinces of
Västerbotten
and
Norrbotten
. Each
kyrkstad
consists of rows of simple
wooden houses grouped tightly around the church. The biggest and most impressive, at
Gammelstad
near Luleå (see p.275), is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Today,
they are no longer used in the traditional way, though people still live in the old houses,
especially in summer, and sometimes even rent them out to tourists.
