Temple at Uppsala

The Temple of Uppsala was a suspected temple building in Old Uppsala, which is said to have represented the center of the pagan beliefs of the Svea.

The main source of the existence of the temple is Adam of Bremen, who wrote in his chronicle in 1070: " Even in the sixties of the 11th century was the mighty Temple of Uppsala in his place, although Olof Skötkonung already half a century before its destruction had planned. It consisted of a totally gilded buildings and in this perched images of the pagan gods. "

Adam of Bremen but was never actually there. His entire report was based on interviews with the Danish King Sven Estridsson and on information he received from ambassadors at the Danish court, their reliability is doubtful, especially since King Olof Skötkonung had ordered half a century before, to destroy all pagan shrines. Especially about the Temple in Uppsala give to other ancient legends that he was burned in 1088 by order pend the I.. With everything we know today about the victims of the Svea festivals, the "temple" may have been lying outdoors on a sacred meadow. Archaeological there is no evidence of a temple. In the vicinity of the royal mounds of Old Uppsala has also found remains of longhouses. It is possible that wooden idols were housed in a part of the longhouses. On the other hand, it could also have been erected only during the sacrificial feasts.

The foundations of the present church in Old Uppsala, which have been found, might as well have been an earlier church or a barn or a temple. However, the building was not particularly gorgeous and unassuming, as Carl Larsson represented in his paintings. What is today the pagan sacrifices ( blot), the Svea and this time white, suggests that may have been just as well meant a place outside a building in a sacred grove, or to a source with the word "temple".

In the background of the mural midvinterblot of Carl Larsson, which can be seen in the National Museum of Stockholm, the painter has represented the imaginary temple. In the picture the Svea sacrifice their king Domalde.