History
The Gammelstad Church Town began as a Trading post, trading settlement, and became the focus of religious observances for farming communities in the region. Gammelstad is an exceptionally well Historic preservation, preserved example of a Scandinavian church town. Such settlements are unique, because they were shaped by the Religion, religious and social needs of a regions inhabitants, rather than by Economic forces, economic and Geography, geographic forces. The numerous wooden houses constructed around the church were only used on Sundays, and in conjunction with religious festivals as overnight housing for worshippers from the surrounding countryside, whose Pilgrimage, journeys involved travelling long distances in a Climate of Sweden, harsh natural environment. Gammelstad's development into a church town instead of a Trade, mercantile town is a direct result of natural land upheaval which rendered the Harbor, town harbor unusable by the 17th century, forcing citizens to relocate the community's commercial centre. The new settlement took the name of Luleå, while the earlier church site was renamed Gammelstad (Old Town). The relocation of the commercial centre preserved the unique settlement of Gammelstad, leaving it untouched by the later 19th-century Industrialization of Sweden, industrialization of the region. Gammelstad's layout has been preserved in its entirety. The Urban planning, town plan grew organically over several centuries, consisting of radial approaches to the church, and roads circling the town centre along the sides of the hill. A wall with gates was built around the church, however the wall currently in place is a Reconstruction (architecture), reconstruction. Development halted after the middle of the 17th century. In the modern day, very few Scandinavian church town settlements remain, and Gammelstad is the best preserved example of this form of settlement, and is therefore protected by UNESCO.Buildings
There are a total of 520 buildings within the Gammelstad Church Town World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site. These buildings include 404 church cottages divided into about 552 separate chambers, and 116 other buildings. Church cottages which served as short-term housing for worshippers are juxtaposed with larger, more conventional houses for the officials and merchants who lived permanently in the settlement. Both types of housing surround the late 15th-century church, the district's only stone building, whose size reflects the prosperity of the region. Other notable buildings include the Chapel of Bethel, the Cottage of the Separatists, the Parish House, the Tithe Barn, the Mayor's Residence, the Captain's Residence, and the Guest House.Gallery
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