Wender·Vista
Temple at Uppsala
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileSweden
on the plain north of modern Uppsala

Temple at Uppsala

— — a hall the chronicles remember and the field forgot.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Gamla Uppsala. A low rise above a flat Swedish plain, three royal burial mounds in a row, and the site where a wooden pagan temple once stood. Adam of Bremen described it in the 1070s, gold-gabled, three idols inside. Nothing of the hall survives above ground. The mounds do. Wind comes off the field the way it always has. — from the studio

from the studio
Temple at Uppsala
— bring it home

Temple at Uppsala, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Temple at Uppsala

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Gamla Uppsala sits about five kilometres north of the modern city of Uppsala, on a low rise of glacial till above the Fyris valley in Uppsala County, Sweden. Three large burial mounds, the kungshögarna, anchor the site and are traditionally tied to the semi-legendary Yngling kings. Adam of Bremen, writing around 1070, placed a wooden pagan temple here and described three figures inside. The temple itself has never been securely identified by excavation. A medieval stone church now stands on the rise.

— the year

The single near-contemporary account is Adam of Bremen's Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, written around 1070, which records a nine-yearly sacrifice and three idols named Thor, Odin and Freyr. The temple is thought to have ceased function in the late eleventh century as Christianity spread under King Inge the Elder. Excavations in the twentieth century by Sune Lindqvist found post-holes beneath the church but no conclusive temple plan. The Gamla Uppsala Museum on site interprets the finds.

— the silence

What a visitor meets today is mostly grass, sky, and the three mounds. The eastern mound is the largest, roughly fifty-five metres across. The site is open, free, and easily reached by city bus from central Uppsala in under twenty minutes. Stockholm lies about seventy kilometres south. Weather decides the mood more than anything human; in late autumn the field can hold mist past noon, and the silence under the church bell is the loudest thing on the rise.

— where
Sweden · Gamla Uppsala, Uppsala County
— position
59.8989° N · 17.6307° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
5 km S
Uppsala Cathedral
Gothic cathedral
5 km S
Linnaeus Garden
botanical garden
70 km S
Stockholm
capital city
N
Temple at Uppsala
Uppsala Cathedral
Linnaeus Garden
Stockholm
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Temple at Uppsala — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

At Gamla Uppsala, about five kilometres north of the modern city of Uppsala in Uppsala County, Sweden. The site sits on a low rise above the Fyris valley and is marked today by three large burial mounds and a medieval stone church.

Adam of Bremen, writing around 1070, described a wooden hall with a gold-gabled roof and three idols inside: Thor in the centre, Odin and Freyr at his sides. No physical remains of the hall have been securely identified by excavation.

It is thought to have ceased function in the late eleventh century as Sweden converted to Christianity under King Inge the Elder. The exact year is not recorded. A Christian church was raised on the same rise within a few generations.

The kungshögarna, or royal mounds, traditionally linked to kings of the semi-legendary Yngling dynasty. The eastern mound is the largest at roughly fifty-five metres across. They date to the sixth century, predating Adam of Bremen's account by about five hundred years.

Yes. Gamla Uppsala is open year-round and free to walk. The Gamla Uppsala Museum on site interprets the excavations. City bus 2 from central Uppsala reaches the site in about twenty minutes.

He never visited Sweden himself and wrote from informants in Denmark. Historians treat his temple description as the best surviving textual source, but read it with care, since some details may carry polemical or rhetorical weight.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Gamla Uppsala carries weight for many Swedes as one of the oldest named places in the country's written record. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio reads well as a gift for someone tied to Uppland.

The stained-glass and oil treatment of a quiet field reads well in Nordic Minimalist, Scandinavian Modern, and quiet Folk-Modern interiors. The piece carries warmth without competing for attention.

Scandinavian Modern continues to favour quiet narrative pieces over loud colour. A muted historical landscape like this fits the current direction toward rooms that feel rooted in place rather than catalogue-fresh.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large carries the wall well. For a wider statement, a four-tile Mural reads as one image. Above a console, a Medium framed in oak is the studio's most-requested format.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, beneath a thin protective layer, so steam and splash are not a concern.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. No solvents, no abrasive pads. The surface is hand-finished in the studio and meant to live with daily handling without changing.

Yes. Every piece in the WenderVista atlas is original work from our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. No licensed stock, no third-party imagery. Reid Wender chooses what enters the atlas.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.