Churchboats

Sollerön is an island located in Lake Siljan. In the past, there were no bridges between Sollerön and the mainland. In the winter, those who lived here had to walk across the ice when they went to Mora or to Gesunda. In the summer, they went by boat.

At that time, everyone had to go to church. The church was in Mora. Back then, they built large church boats so that many people could go to church, and several people could help each other row.

Later, Sollerön got its own church, which you can see from here. When the church was built, the name of Sweden’s Queen was Sophia Magdalena. The church was named after the queen.

There were many animals on Sollerön in the past. The grass here was not enough for all the animals. They had to save some for the winter. In the summers they drove horses, cows and sheep to the mainland in large boats. In the pastures on the mainland the animals could eat grass all summer.

When they had built bridges to Sollerön, they no longer needed the big boats. The old boats were still around for a long time. Some wanted to start racing the boats, to see who could row the fastest.

There were carpenters on Sollerön who were very good at building boats. They built new racing boats. Those boats were similar to the old church boats, and the boats that existed in the Viking Age.

Boats usually have names. Here under the roof is a boat called Sophia Magdalena, just like the queen used to be called, and the church is named after her. It is a racing boat that was built for women. At first, only men competed, but the women arranged for them to also have a boat to compete with.

Come and watch the exciting rowing competitions that take place in Siljan in the summer. Church boats from different places around Siljan compete against each other.