Visit the Gamla Uppsala archaeological site

Welcome to Gamla Uppsala

Gamla Uppsala is an ideal destination for a full day's visit. Enjoy scenic walking paths around the extensive burial grounds with their monumental royal mounds. You can also visit Sweden's first cathedral, which became a parish church after the archbishop's seat was moved to present-day Uppsala and the new cathedral was built there.

The area is also home to Disagården Open-Air Museum, where you can experience what a farming village in Uppland looked like during the nineteenth century.

The archaeological landscape

During the Iron Age, Gamla Uppsala was the centre of a prosperous and highly developed society. A royal estate stood here, and the Svear gathered to worship their gods. The site remained an important religious centre long after the Christianisation of Sweden.

For centuries, legends claimed that the great mounds contained the remains of ancient Norse gods, while others believed they were simply natural hills. In the summer of 1846, the truth began to emerge. Sweden's National Antiquarian, Bror Emil Hildebrand, led the archaeological excavation of what was then known as Odin's Mound, today called the Eastern Mound. On the evening of 15 September, the excavation team finally reached the centre of the mound, where they discovered a cairn of stones.

Burials of powerful people

The excavation confirmed that the mound was indeed a burial monument, although the finds themselves were modest: cremated human remains and fragments of grave goods. In 1874, archaeologists excavated the Western Mound, then known as Freyr's Mound, where they also uncovered a cremation burial.

We do not know who was buried in the royal mounds, but there is little doubt that they were people of exceptional status. Finds from the Eastern Mound included the remains of a helmet and fragments of gold objects. In the Western Mound, archaeologists discovered the remains of a goshawk, probably a trained hunting bird—an unmistakable symbol of the highest social elite of the time.

A thriving settlement

The discoveries made by Hildebrand and his colleagues represent only a small part of what was once a large settlement. During the sixth century AD, when the royal mounds were constructed, Gamla Uppsala was at the height of its power. Skilled craftspeople, prosperous farms and a royal estate were located here, together with a great feasting hall.

This hall may have inspired the medieval chronicler Adam of Bremen, who, in the eleventh century, described a magnificent pagan temple adorned with gold. He also wrote of an evergreen tree and a sacred spring where offerings were made to the Norse gods.

The first church

There is strong evidence that the first Christian church in Gamla Uppsala was built during the eleventh century. In 1164, Sweden's first archbishop's cathedral was erected on the same site beside the royal estate.

The church standing today is only about half the size of the original cathedral, but traces of the medieval walls can still be seen within the present building. In 1270, the archbishop's seat was transferred to Östra Aros—the settlement that would become modern Uppsala. The cathedral was reduced to the status of a parish church and acquired its present appearance during the fifteenth century.

Despite these changes, Gamla Uppsala has retained its symbolic importance throughout Swedish history. Its significance was highlighted once again in 1989 when Pope John Paul II visited the site.

A story still unfolding

The history of Gamla Uppsala is both fascinating and continually evolving. New discoveries continue to reshape our understanding of this remarkable place.

One of the largest archaeological investigations ever undertaken in the area took place in 2012, when approximately 70,000 square metres were excavated ahead of the construction of a new double-track railway. The excavation revealed extensive new evidence of settlement, ritual activity and monumental structures, further enriching the story of one of Scandinavia's most important archaeological sites.