Vreta Kloster church village and monastery ruins

Product description

High up overlocking rolling fields and sweeping views of the waters of the Roxen, you'll find the unique church village of Vreta Kloster, where the stately abbey church stands as a landmark. Here you can visit the church with its exciting history, walk in the monastery ruins where the wild boar crackles in red colors during the autumn, visit Klosterhuset with its area's summer-open café. Also take part in what the church has to offer in the form of music, worship or just a quiet moment with an atmosphere of history.

The church
Is one of our country's most interesting medieval buildings and was built as a royal church in early 12th century by the Stenkil family, perhaps it has also been a bishop's church. During the Middle Ages it was a parish and monastic church and has continued to be a parish church and remains so today. As such, it has had an unbroken function for some 900 years. Upstairs inside the church is a museum.

The cloister
By 1110, King Inge the Elder and Queen Helena donated farms for the benefit of a monastery in Vreta. Vreta monastery was the first in Sweden. King Karl Sverkersson's donation in 1162 ushered in an era of new construction. Shortly afterwards, the monastery joined the Cistercian Order and was Sweden's most prominent nunnery for several hundred years. The monastery survived early day of the Reformation but was dissolved when the last nuns died in the 1580s.The buildings fell into disrepair and today you can only see the ruins.

Baptistery
An early Christian baptistery that was a separate building, a baptistery church. It may be Scandinavia's only known baptistery and the facility existed before the monastery. Today it is fully visible after an archaeological survey in 2006.

The Monastery house
A stately granary from the end of the 13th century and is the country's oldest preserved detached farm building. From 2019, dedicated to all visitors to Vreta Abbey. The northern part of houses an exhibition of remarkable stones and older building details recovered during archaeological investigations and the restoration of the church. You can see early Christian burial monuments from the 11th century. The southern part of the buildings has space for exhibition, among other things.

Make a visit

In the unique church village there are also several interesting buildings and places, including the Fattigstuga with an arranged herb garden. Tiondebod and Liktorg. Prästbostaden and Gamla Prästbostaden (private area). In the monastery area you can wander as you please. If you would like to know more about the church of Vreta Kloster and the surroundings area, you can buy literature in the church porch.

Guest toilets are in the old stable buildings, entrance on the gable of the house.