Explore our table mountains
Skaraborg

Stone has played and continues to play an important role in human life. Stone is useful as a raw material for building, for decoration, for remembrance, but also as a problem in everyday life. Stone defies time, and mastering it and extracting its inherent riches has been a goal for the inhabitants of the landscape since the Stone Age. Stone has shaped the landscape and humans have shaped stone, from Stone Age passage graves to today's concrete construction.

Stone is an immense subject to tackle. The geology of the Västergötland mountains alone is enough to fill metres of shelf space, and all schoolchildren in Västergötland have learned the rhyme “USA kl. 3” (USA at 3 o'clock). (Urberg sandstone-alunite shale-limestone-clay shale-trap/diabase)

In this excursion guide, we have chosen the human perspective. It reflects the relationship of the people of Västergötland to the table mountains and the stone in the fields from the era of the megalith builders 5,000 years ago to the present day. The selection is by no means exhaustive, but we hope to provide you, the visitor, with some new insights.

Welcome to the countryside and discover both well-known and unknown places that tell stories about people and stone. Stone is versatile, colorful, and timeless!

Excursion destinations in Skaraborg

Here is a wide selection of places of interest in Skaraborg on the theme of stone. These range from museums to places out in nature. For more information about the various places, directions, and accessibility, please refer to the websites listed and the excellent book “Sevärdheter i Västergötland – Skaraborgs län” (Sights in Västergötland – Skaraborg County), which was first published in 1981 and is also available in later editions.

Askeberga ship setting

Sweden's second largest ship setting after Ale stones, 54 meters long.

Bastöna village

Authentically preserved farmstead with stone wall landscape.
Bastöna & Rösjö mosse

The northern tip of Billing

Quarries and lime kiln ruins, as well as the Lilla Stolan radium mine.

Bjertorp castle

Sweden's youngest castle, built in Art Nouveau style in 1914 with limestone-clad facades.
www.bjertorpslott.se

Brattefors quarry

One of the many limestone quarries along the Kinnekulle Trail.

Bölets manganese mine

Manganese has been mined here from the 17th century until modern times.

Startsidan - vandring - Skaraborgsleder

Cementa's quarry

The largest limestone quarry on Kinnekulle. Limestone was quarried here for the cement factory in Hällekis.

Ekedalen

Remains of quarries and lime kilns adjacent to a nature reserve.

Ekornavallen

Burial ground with monuments from all prehistoric eras, including four passage graves.

Falbygden Museum

The museum depicts the history of Falbygden, especially the megalithic culture. Several megaliths have been preserved in the urban environment, including in “Plantis.”

English | Falköpings kommun

Falkängens bruksgata, Hällekis

Cementa's workers' housing from the turn of the last century.
Industry and stone museum.

Falkängens Hantverksby

Floby

Alphems Arboretum – created by postman F J Gegerfelt using stones from the surrounding area – and the stone wall landscape at Väsmestorp.

Alphems

Forshem Church and Stone Museum

Romanesque sandstone church with reliefs from the 12th century. Museum with lily stones and other medieval funerary art.
Forshems kyrka - Götene pastorat

Gudhem Monastery

Ruins of a Cistercian nunnery from the
12th century. Monastery museum.
Gudhem 

Gössäter

The mechanical stone quarry with the manager's villa and the ruins of the slate oil factory.
Gössäter – Kinnekulle Hembygdsförening

Göta Kanal

Between Sjötorp and Hajstorp, the Göta Kanal passes through 19 locks.
In Hajstorp, the canal company had its workshops for the Västergötland line.
Göta Kanal

Husaby

12th-century sandstone church with an imposing west tower, ruins of a medieval bishop's castle, Bronze Age rock carvings, Lasse in the mountain cave, and traces of old sandstone quarries.

Härja Church

Unusual portal and reliefs in sandstone from the 12th century. Well-preserved Romanesque church tower.

Karleby passage graves

Passage graves in a row along the village of Karleby in 5,000-year-old farmland.

Karlsborg Fortress

The final defense is one of the country's largest stone buildings, 678 m long, begun in 1819.
Karlsborg Fortress | SFV

Kinne-Kleva, the Navy's shale oil plant

Where the silos stand today, there are still remains of the large shale oil works that supplied the Navy with fuel oil during World War II. The red pine mound is visible from afar.

Kinne-Vedum Church

One of Västergötland's best-preserved Romanesque sandstone churches from the 12th century.

Kungslena

12th-century church, cemetery with rich funerary art from the Middle Ages and onwards, memorial stone commemorating the Battle of Lena in 1208, ruins of the medieval palace Lenaborg.
Svenska kyrkan Tidaholm

Källby halls

Burial ground with two Viking-era runestones, one pagan and one Christian. The latter was moved here by Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie.

Levene runestone

The cemetery is home to Sweden's tallest runestone, nearly five meters high, which was found walled up in the church in 1927.

Lidens farm

Remains of the Mölltorp lime works with quarries and lime kilns on the eastern slope of Billingen, north of Skövde.

Lindholmens castle ruins

The ruins of the Oxenstierna family's 17th-century castle at Ullersund.

Läckö church

A medieval bishop's castle that was converted into a Baroque castle by the Counts De la Gardie in the 17th century.
Läckö Castle | One of Sweden's most well-preserved Baroque castles

Medelplana

Atmospheric cemetery with plenty of locally produced older grave art. Stone museum about geology and limestone processing.
Stenmuseet i Medelplana – Kinnekulle Hembygdsförening

Mösseberg ancient fort

In the northwestern part of Mösseberg lies one of Västergötland's largest ancient forts, a refuge in prehistoric times, surrounded by a stone wall over a kilometer long.

Mösseberg

Olsbro Stone

At Alvared Farm, southwest of the church in Åsarp, stands one of Västergötland's most remarkable and ornate runestones.

Millstone Quarry in Lugnås

Museum of working life dedicated to millstone quarrying in Lugnåsfjället.
Millstone Quarry in Lugnås

Rune Stone Alley at Dagsnäs Castle

Around 1800, archaeologist and Gothic scholar Pehr Tham had rune stones brought here from the Skara area, four of which still stand in the park.
Dagsnäs Castle

Råbäck Mechanical Stone Masonry

Working life museum in the listed stone masonry building.
Råbäck Mehanical Stone Masonry

Råda Church

Well-preserved 12th-century sandstone church. The old parish storehouse contains Viking-era stone grave monuments, known as Eskilstuna coffins, which were found walled up in the church.
Råda Church

Silverfallet

In the nature reserve at Karlsforsbäcken on the western slope of Billingen, there are remains of quarries and lime kilns. In addition to burnt lime, alum for tanning and dyeing was also produced here.
Nature Reserve Silverfallet – Karlsfors

Skara Cathedral

A sandstone cathedral was built here as early as the 12th century. It was rebuilt and extended in Gothic style during the 14th century and was finally restored by architect Helgo Zettervall in the 1880s and 1890s.
Svenska kyrkan Skara pastorat

Skårs lime works

Skårs lime works, owned by the lime workers themselves, was located at Kinne-Kleva west of Mössberg. Here you can see the remains of lime kilns and workers' dwellings.

Sparlösastenen

One of the country's most unusual runestones was found embedded in the church in 1937. Many attempts have been made to interpret the carvings.

Suntak's old church

An unusually well-preserved Romanesque apse church that has not changed significantly since the 18th century.
Suntak's old church | SFV

Tomten's limestone quarry

Limestone quarry outside Torbjörnstorp.

Tun

West of the church lies one of the country's largest Bronze Age cairns. Opposite the church stands one of Västergötland's oldest school buildings, built in stone in 1763 according to drawings by architect Olof Tempelman.
The builder was church builder Sven Westman from Skärv. The initiator was Dean Jonas Silvius.
Tun local heritage association

Vaberget Fortress

One of the country's first blasted rock forts, built
at the end of the 19th century. Vabergets fästning - www.nth.se

Varnhem

The well-preserved Cistercian monastery church, the ruins of the monastery, and Kata Farm. South of Varnhem lies the Iron Age burial ground at Amundtorp.
Kata Gård in Varnhem - Västergötlands museum

Våmb Church

Unusually well-preserved Romanesque apse church at Cementa.

Väner Museum

The Väner Museum in Lidköping reflects the nature and culture around southern Lake Vänern.
Vänermuseet - Lidköpings kommun

Västerplana

The site of a lively stone industry during the 18th century. Well-preserved medieval church in 18th-century style with gravestones of stonemasons. Local funerary art in the cemetery. Traces of farmers' quarries and
lime kilns in the surrounding area.
Västerplana Church 

Västergötland Museum

Permanent exhibition Between Ice and Fire. Summer exhibition 2017: Stone – from Megalith to Cement.
Västergötlands museum - Thousands of years of history

Åsle

Stone-walled farm buildings, cemetery with rich medieval and later grave art, memorial stone commemorating the Battle of Åsle in 1389.