The church boats of lake Siljan

Dalarna - particularly the lake Siljan region - in central Sweden is famous for the church boats.
Since the road network was very poor in the 19th and early 20th centuries, people had to use boats in order to get to their local church.  Around the year 1850, Leksand had about 60 church boats of the type shown on these photographs. The biggest boats had up to 12 pairs of oars. 

Church boat on lake Siljan in the 1890s.

Sunday morning in Leksand in the late 19th century.