The chapel in Viken

The chapel in Viken is situated so beautifully along the banks of the Kvarnbergsvattnet in Frostviken, one could believe God chose the spot for it Himself. Actually, this is more or less what happened.

At first a start was made with building a chapel in Kyrkbolandet, but at night everything that had been constructed during the day was being broken down again by people unknown. So it was decided to build the church somewhere else. They put a balk in the lake, and where it would be washed ashore, the church would be built. The balk was washed up at in Viken, in some inaccessible crevice, and they brought it a few hundred metres further to the west. The architect – Enar Persson from Jorm – did not have a building plan, but played it by ear.

The chapel in Viken was built from 1793 tot 1799, and therefore it is the oldest church in the area.

The church in Fatomakke

In the year 1780 the priest Per Radström travelled from Åsele to the mountains to meet the Sami at the border of the Ransar lake. His sermons fell in fertile grounds: the first church of Fatomakke was built in 1781.

Ten years later the two sheds and the barn had become too small for the services, so a new church was built. This new church was soon too small and old fashioned as well. The present church was built in the period from 1881 to 1884.

© Johan Norberg

From 1820 on the church in Fatomakke was only visited by Sami who built huts around the church for the night. But when the first colonists settled in the area, they started visiting the church services also, and they built the houses around the church.

The church of Gäddede

When the chapel in Viken got too small for the steadily growing congregation, and the members from the southern villages didn't want to make the long walk to Sunday Mass any more, a church was built in Gäddede.

It is unknown when exactly the construction was started, but the first priest in Gäddede, Magnus Selberg, started preaching in 1841

In 1933-34 and in 1974 the church was renovated.

The chapel of Ankarede

In the Sami meetingplace Ankarede there is a white wooden chapel – one of the best known churches in the region. It was built in 1896, and in 1953-54 it was renovated.

You can obtain the key in Café Ankarede, next to the chapel.

The chapel in Högland

Already in the year 1860, as the Högland locals tell, the location of the present chapel was found by two hikers from Långsele – Erik Johansson and reverend Carl Gustaf Hammar.

However, the church would actually be built only several decades later. First, in 1904, a school was built and was used for both education and church services. But after a new school was built in 1934, people recalled the vision of reverend Hammar; and in five years, the old school building was inaugurated as the new chapel.

In 1940 the chapel got an altar and a pulpit – partly made with the remainders of the old church in Dorotea that burned down in 1932. In 1941, the bell tower was finished and two bells were hung inside. In 1954-55 the chapel was reconstructed.

The church in Dorotea

The church in the most southern municipality of Lappland sits on the Kullerbalken hill. The original wooden church, dating from 1799, burned down completely in 1932. Its successor was inaugurated in 1934 and thoroughly refurbished in 1984.

In the church there are sculptures by the famous artist Carl Milles. His brother, Everet Milles designed the new church.

Make sure to take a look at the small chapel in the graveyard next to the church. There you will find the group of life-sized sculptures "the Last Supper", made by Björn Martinius.

The chapel of Sjoutnäset

In 1919 the beautiful wooden chapel with its 225 seats was inaugurated at the banks of the Storsjouten lake. As there is no heating in the church, the 'Sjoutnäs-mass' is celebrated only once in summer. This romantic chapel, on the road from Lidsjöberg to Härbergsdalen, is a favourite place for weddings also.

When the chapel is closed, you can get the key from the farm across the road – and there you can buy some very good goat cheese as well.

The church in Vilhelmina

Only the balk remnants lying in the eastern part of the community house still remind of the first church in Vilhelmina – the Volgsjö chapel, built in 1785.

The present church on top of the hill beside Volgsjön, with its magnificent view over the lake and the forest, was inaugurated in 1840. Each village from the municipality had to contribute to it with a certain amount of timber and man-hours.

At first the church had 900 seats, but with the renovation in 1970 the number was reduced to 500.

The church in Strömsund

When the small – just 12 by 7 metres – medieval church in Strömsund didn't have enough seats for all church members, it was decided in 1816 that a new, larger church would be built. The construction of this new church started sometime around 1823.

However, because of a series of poor harvests and other problems the construction was abandoned for many years. Only in 1845, people began to work on the church again. This was under the management of the new church architect F. A. Lidstein from Stockholm, who had made the congregation the best offer. He also changed the original plan of Simon Geting.

In 1847 the church was officially inaugurated, and in 1939 a limestone wall was built around it. A larger renovation of the church took place in 1928.

Alanäset