Discover Finsta & Länna

Finsta – the lands of Saint Birgitta

Finsta in Norrtälje municipality has attracted pilgrims and the curious since the Middle Ages. According to tradition, Finsta is the birthplace of Saint Birgitta – she is said to have been born in 1303 and received her first revelations here as a child. Scholars do not agree on the details surrounding the farm ownership, but the Birgitta tradition is strong and living. In the forest edge south of Finsta farm, you can visit the so-called Birgitta's prayer grotto – a natural hollow between large stone blocks, connected to the stories of her childhood visions.

Länna Church

Just under a mile to the south lies Länna Church, beautifully situated on a slope down towards Länna Church Lake. The church was built around 1300 – a baptismal font base from the end of the 1100s suggests that an even older church stood on the site. Inside the church is a well-preserved vault painting from 1300s Gothic with four apostle figures, among the county's oldest preserved wall paintings. The church's name derives from an old word for landing place, because the parishioners in the Middle Ages traveled here by boat via the intersecting waterways.

• Finsta farm: traditional birthplace of Saint Birgitta (ca 1303)
• Birgitta's prayer grotto: natural formation in the forest edge
• Länna Church: built ca 1300, Gothic wall paintings