Riseberga Abbey
Riseberga Abbey, a Cistercian nunnery in Sweden, stood near Fjugesta in Närke. It operated from around 1180 until 1534. The abbey had the right to appoint the vicar of the Edsberg parish, and today the ruins remain, with the abbey’s amphitheatre area used as a Sylvan theater.
Founded in the late 12th century, Riseberga gained strong support from Birger Brosa and his wife Bridget Haraldsdotter, who joined the convent after becoming widowed in 1202. Through donations it became a large landowner, and in 1212 it was granted all confiscated property of criminals in the area. Riseberga was managed under the guidance of Julia and Alvastra monastery.
Most residents were women, but a small number of men helped the nuns and lived outside the walls. The place was isolated in the wilderness, and both nuns and monks sometimes lived as hermits in the surrounding area. Riseberga could appoint the vicars of the Edsberg parish.
In the 1340s, Saint Bridget of Sweden sent her daughter Ingeborg as a novice to the abbey, and another daughter, Catherine of Vadstena, was educated there. During the Swedish Reformation that began in 1527, convents were confiscated by the crown and could not take new novices; the existing members could leave or stay with royal support. In 1534 the remaining sisters left to join a convent abroad.
The buildings burned down in 1546 and were later used as a quarry. The abbesses are only partly known. Riseberga is also linked to the legend of Fair Elisif.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:51 (CET).