Each year there are SEK 460 million to renovate and preserve Sweden's protected churches, which are part of the cultural heritage. Without the money, many churches would be in much worse condition than they are today.
- The condition would have been much worse because it would be the members who would have to pay for the entire restoration then, says Rebecka Svensson, diocesan antiquarian.
Gotland has, with its 92 protected churches, been good at seeking and being granted so-called church antiquarian compensation. One way to compare how much support the various dioceses receive is to look at how much compensation is given per square meter of church. Then Gotland is at the top, in terms of the average in recent years.
But from 2021, the system will be redone and each diocese will be allocated money for a five-year period, based in part on how many churches there are. This means Visby gets less money, since you do not have as many churches as other dioceses.
Already this year Visby diocese receives less money, SEK 462,000 per square meter of church, about SEK 200,000 less than Visby's square meter average.