Falbygden is a geographical area, centered at the town of

Falköping Falköping is a locality and the seat of Falköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,350 inhabitants in 2010. History The town of Falköping was first spoken of in the Icelandic ''Rimbegla'' (around 1100 A.D.), and ...

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

, in southwestern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, and covered mostly by farmland. Most of the area belongs to

Falköping Municipality Falköping Municipality (''Falköpings kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Falköping. The present municipality consists of more than 50 original local government units, j ...

and the west part of

Tidaholm Municipality Tidaholm Municipality (''Tidaholms kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Tidaholm. The municipality is located on the banks of the river Tidan. In the early 1970s a nationw ...

. In mediaeval times the area belonged to the hundreds Frökind, Gudhem, Vartofta, and Vilske. It is known for its geology, flora and

megalithic A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

culture.

Neolithic period in Falbygden

File:Ekornavallen (Raä-nr Hornborga 31-1) gånggriften Girommen 3601.jpg, The

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

passage grave Girommen at Ekornavallen, Hornborga parish, Falbygden File:Varkumla15 ganggrift fr SV 2011-07-20.jpg, A passage grave in Vårkumla parish File:Kyrkerör (Raä-nr Falköping 28-1) gånggrift 4440.jpg, The passage grave Kyrkerör in Falköping File:Gånggriften Hjelmarsrör (RAÄ-nr Falköping 3-1) Utgrävning Ö schaktet 1994-05-XX Bild32.jpg, 1994 archaeological excavation of the passage grave Hjälmarsrör File:Tunnackig yxa fr Segerstads socken 2M16-674-1 utställd 1349.jpg, Neolithic thin-butted

flint axe A flint axe was a Flint tool used during prehistoric times to perform a variety of tasks. These were at first just a cut piece of flint stone used as a hand axe but later wooden handles were attached to these axe heads. The stone exhibits a glass-l ...

, 45.8 cm long, from Segerstad

Iron Age

File:Gerumsmanteln kopia.jpg, Replica of the Pre Roman Iron Age Gerum Cape found in a bog on the table mountain Gerumsberget, Falbygden File:Viking gold necklace.jpg,

Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...

golden collar from the slopes of the table mountain

Ålleberg Ålleberg () is a 330 m high mountain, or table, southeast of Falköping, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of S ...

File:Reliefspänne (Raä-nr Trävattna 31-1) 8839.jpg, A

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

from Trävattna, western part of Falbygden File:Munbleck (svärdsskida) Finnestorp Västergötland Sweden.JPG, Golden throat of a Migration Period

scabbard A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, knife, or other large blade. As well, rifles may be stored in a scabbard by horse riders. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring carbine rifles and Lever action, lever-action ...

from

Finnestorp Finnestorp is an archaeological site in Västergötland, Sweden, where many objects from the Migration Period have been found. The site was discovered in 1902 and excavated in 2000–2004 and 2008–2012. It has been interpreted as a cult site wh ...

on the western border of Falbygden File:Västergötlands största järnåldersgravfält, beläget i Dimbo i Tidaholms kommun, den 25 aug 2006, bild 1.JPG, The Dimbo gravefield is the largest Iron Age necropolis in Västergötland.

Mediaeval Falbygden

The Falbygden area has many mediaeval churches, since almost every parish in the area had a Romanesque church built in the late 11th, 12th, or early 13th century. File:Agnestads kyrkoruin utanför Falköping.jpg, Ruin of the Romanesque rotunda, Agnestad church, just outside Falköping, Falbygden File:Gökhems kyrka Exterior 2010-04-15 Bild 4.jpg,

Gökhem Church Gökhem Church ( sv, Gökhems kyrka) is a medieval Lutheran church built in the Romanesque style. Located some west of Falköping in Västra Götaland County, Sweden, it belongs to the Diocese of Skara. One of Sweden's oldest stone churches, it ...

is a Romanesque church with apse, dated to 1077. File:Suntaks gamla kyrka 01.jpg, Suntak old church, another Romanesque church in Falbygden File:Marka kyrka romanskt fönster 2449.jpg, Romanesque church window in Marka church File:Kinnevedskistan.jpg, Romanesque tomb at the mediaeval church of Kinneved File:Kinneveds kyrka Liljesten-stavkorshäll 2010-04-22.jpg, Romanesque grave slab from Kvinnevad church File:Liljesten fr Suntaks gamla kyrka i Västergötland (Ljungström, Wartofta härad (1877) s164).jpg, Drawing of Romanesque grave slab from Suntak old church File:Gudhems klosterruin 2516.jpg, Ruins of

Gudhem Abbey Gudhem Abbey ( sv, Gudhems kloster) is the ruin of a nunnery which was in operation from 1152 to 1529. It is located in Gudhem outside Falköping in the Falbygden area in Västergötland, Sweden. It was initially part of the Benedictine and later ...

File:Kungslenakyrka i sin prakt, den 23 aug 2006.JPG, Kungslena church File:Gökhems kyrka Takmålningar 2010-04-15 bild 7.JPG, Late mediaeval ceiling paintings from

Museums in Falbygden

File:Åsle Tå.jpg, Åsle Tå, Falbygden File:Alphems arboretum utanför Floby 2651.jpg, Alphems Arboretum, a garden near Floby in the western part of Falbygden File:CIMG9492 Falbygden1 korr01.jpg, First issue of ''Falbygden'', a periodical for local history, 1927 File:Falbygdens museum exterior 4477.jpg, Falbygden Museum in Falköping File:Ekehagens forntidsby Bronsåldershuset 5078.jpg, Reconstructed Bronze Age houses at the Ekehagen prehistoric village in the southern part of Falbygden File:Dalenmuseet.jpg, Dalén Museum in Stenstorp

General sources

* Falbygdens Hembygds- och Fornminnesförening, ''Falbygden'' (1927-) periodical. * Falbygdens museum, ''Forntid på Falbygden'' (1995). * Falbygdens museum, ''se spåren på Falbygden - ....och tusen år till - fortsätter i landskapet'' (2000). {{Authority control Geography of Västra Götaland County