Gammelstad Church Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated near the city of Luleå, Sweden at the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is the best preserved example of a type of town that was once widespread throughout northern Scandinavia. The town is located about 10 kilometers up streams Lule River. At its center is an early 15th century stone church surrounded by 424 wood-built houses. The houses used only on Sundays and at religious festivals to house worshipers from the surrounding countryside who could not return home the same day because of the distance and difficult traveling conditions. Gammelstad was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996.
