Ancient site · Sweden · Still standing

Gamla Uppsala

Gamla Uppsala is an archaeological and historical landscape north of modern Uppsala dominated by three large, turf-covered Royal Mounds and extensive Iron Age grave fields. It was an early religious, political and burial centre for the ruling élite of Uppland and later became the seat of an early medieval archbishopric. The site preserves barrows, the plateau of a royal estate with evidence of a large timber hall, and a medieval church built later on the same sacred ground.

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Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

Its prime

AD 550

Today

Still standing

As it stood in AD 550

What Gamla Uppsala looked like in its prime.

At its prime (c. 550 CE) Gamla Uppsala reads as a low, grassy ridge on a broad cultivated plain: three monumental, turf-covered barrows rise as smooth, rounded domes from the ridge, surrounded by scores of smaller cairns and tumuli. A raised clay plateau nearby holds the footprint of a large timber hall; the landscape is open pasture and arable fields sloping down toward a former fjard, with packed earth tracks and scattered wooden farmsteads. Colours are greens and ochres of turf and soil, with exposed cobble and gravel layers revealed where mounds were capped.

Step inside

8 places to explore in AD 550.

The record describes 8 distinct spots at Gamla Uppsala, including 1 interior: interior of the large timber hall on the plateau. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more photos, more angles and more of the immersive experience.

Approach across the Fyris WoldsSummit of the Eastern Mound (Östhögen)Slope and cobble cap of the Middle MoundFoot of the Western Mound and funerary depositsRoyal plateau (Kungsgårdsplatån) with large timber hall — exteriorInterior of the large timber hall on the plateauThe south grave field of smaller tumuliFjord edge and landing area (historic shoreline)

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