Uppsala Temple
Location
About
Gamla Uppsala in central Sweden was the most sacred site of pre-Christian Norse religion, home to a renowned temple described by the German chronicler Adam of Bremen around 1070 CE as containing gold-covered idols of Odin, Thor, and Freyr in a great hall adorned with a golden chain. Every ninth year a great sacrificial festival called the blót was held here for nine days, during which nine males of every species — including humans — were sacrificed and hung from trees in the sacred grove adjacent to the temple. The site also included the royal burial mounds of the legendary Yngling dynasty.
Significance
Uppsala was the cultic and royal center of the Svear people, the dominant group from which Sweden takes its name. The temple complex — combining sacrifice, kingship legitimation, and cosmological representation of the Norse pantheon — functioned as the religious headquarters for Scandinavian paganism at its organizational height. Its destruction and replacement by a Christian cathedral in 1087 under King Ingi I marked the effective Christianization of Sweden.
History & Historical Arc
The site's royal burial mounds — the Mounds of the Kings — date from the 5th–6th centuries CE and contain cremation buri…
Archaeological Notes
No physical remains of the wooden temple have been identified; excavations have focused on the burial mounds and early s…
Key Features & Structures
- Three royal burial mounds (Kungshögarna)
- Site of the great temple (no standing remains)
Visitor Information
Gamla Uppsala is open year-round; the burial mounds are freely accessible and the Gamla Uppsala Museum interprets the si…
Related Figures
In the Bible
Source References
- Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum 4.26–27 (c. 1070 CE)
- Snorri Sturluson, Ynglinga saga 5
- Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum