Skara Cathedral

Skara has been a bishop's seat since about 1014, the oldest diocese in the country, and the cathedral on the site is largely thirteenth and fourteenth-century Gothic over an eleventh-century crypt, with the twin west spires added in Helgo Zettervall's heavy nineteenth-century restoration. The building has burned and been rebuilt several times. Its most striking modern feature is the glass: Bo Beskow designed windows for it in the mid twentieth century in strong colour, which sit oddly and effectively against the grey stone. The old town around it is small, with the Vastergotland museum and an open-air section a short walk away.

What you actually see

• A Gothic cathedral over an older crypt - the diocese dates from about 1014.
• Zettervall's twin spires - nineteenth-century restoration.
• Bo Beskow's glass - strong modern colour in a grey interior.
• A small cathedral town - museum and old quarter nearby.

When to go

Year round. An hour.

Honest expectations

It shuts to visitors for services and concerts. Much of the exterior is nineteenth-century work. The interior is plain apart from the glass. Skara is quiet with limited evening life.

Nearby

Varnhem is east; Kinnekulle and Lake Vanern are north.