S:t Olavsleden Selånger-Matfors

In the early summer of 1030, the Norwegian Viking king Olav Haraldsson landed in Selånger, which was then the major harbor bay in northern Sweden. He had been in exile for a few years and from the Bothnian Sea he began his journey to Norway and his death in Stiklestad on July 29, 1030. The St. Olav Trail begins at Selånger's church ruins and according to tradition, St. Olav erected a copper-clad cross here with the words Land for tribe in the name of Jesus. The church was built in the early 1100s and collapsed in the late 1800s. Today, the ruin is a peaceful place for music and worship, and a pilgrimage center has been built nearby. Those arriving in Sundsvall by train can follow the trail signs for a mile from the station to Selånger. St. Olavsleden passes Kungsnäs, where there was an ancient royal manor. The road runs through the rolling agricultural landscape of Selångerdalen, which has traces of the Iron Age. In Påläng you turn off towards Västeråsen and several other villages from the Middle Ages. Tuna parish spreads out in the Ljungan valley, and in Vattjom is the trail's first known St. Olav spring. A path leads up to Torkarlsberget and Tuna Hembygdsgård with a collection of houses from the area, and a rune stone has also been moved here.