Gotland has a lot of churches. With a population of less than 60,000 and Swedes being a fairly secular bunch, the density of Churches is surprising. There are 92(!) Medieval churches on the island, and lots of more ‘modern’ ones as well. The Swedish church is pretty progressive and welcoming as Christian churches go, and we ended up filling our water bottles at the ‘garden care stations’ in each churchyard. These little stations had watering cans, trowels, mini weeding claws, and a standpipe so that folks can come and look after the graves of their loved ones and relations.
In case you were wondering what we drank on the dry island, this is where we got a lot of our drinking and cooking water! It became a reflex to look out for churches on the map and make sure we swung by to get water…. but he buildings and gardens were usually quite lovely to visit. The church buildings were usually open, welcoming you in through an old heavy wooden door covered in fragrant local pine tar. They were quiet and cool inside, with a place to light a candle but in no other way looking like a Catholic church; in the Lutheran tradition Swedish churches are relatively unadorned.
The church at Hall, a much needed oasis after a night on the beach with no fresh water available 
The grave-caring station in the church yard 
Many of the ‘modern’ churches had a very similar romaneque design with a few gothic-inspired window designs. 
The 1200s church in Tingstäde 
The old limestone arch in the Tingstäde churchyard 
Designed so you can see God better 
Some of the churches also have public washrooms, often like this outhouse version, where you and a friend can have a social poop. 
Ain’t nuthin’ free in this world, and someone needs to buy the toilet paper and empty the outhouse. This sign asks for a donation if you make a *donation*.