Discover Tommarp

Tommarp combines a long settlement history with church art, monastic heritage and an open agricultural landscape. The town’s history spans early settlement patterns, structures shaped by the medieval period and the later development of a railway village. These different historical layers help place the town in context across several themes and locations.

Church and Monastery History

The church of Östra Tommarp was completed in 1857, replacing the S.ta Maria Church, which had probably stood on this site since the 12th century. The church’s architecture includes stepped gables and a decoratively designed cornice. The pulpit also brings together different periods: its five panels depict carved figures of Christ and the four Evangelists. The panels come from an older pulpit dating to the beginning of the 17th century.

Around 1150, a Premonstratensian monastery was established in Thumatorp. The church village of Östra Tommarp lies beside the old monastery site. Klosterplatsen is an open square measuring about 40 × 40 metres, which partially conceals the ruins of the large Premonstratensian monastery. A church portal excavated at Klosterplatsen in the summer of 1999 can be viewed there. Check the current exhibition arrangements before your visit.

Settlement and Town Development

The early settlement in Tommarp covered an area of 140 × 250 metres and included longhouses and pit houses. Its extent differs considerably from that of Klosterplatsen, which measures about 40 × 40 metres: the two measurements represent different scales within the town’s history.

In the 18th century, farms in Tommarp were still arranged along the medieval town’s street pattern. The older street layout therefore remained significant to the historical arrangement of the farms. A railway village developed north of the church village after a station was built in the 1880s. The town’s history thus encompasses both the development of the church village beside the old monastery site and the later emergence of the railway village to the north.

Tommarp’s old schoolhouse was built in 1727. The old schoolhouse in Östra Tommarp houses a school museum, a parish museum and a monastery museum. The three museum names refer to different subjects: school history, the parish and the monastery.

Landscape and Getting There

Östra Tommarp lies in a gently rolling, open agricultural landscape. The Tommarpsån flows through a pronounced valley south of the church village. An old lime kiln stands near the river west of the church village. These add further aspects to the character of the area alongside its church and monastery history: the open landscape, the river valley and a historic trace of lime burning.

For rail travel, Gärsnäs is a useful reference point: the train stops in the neighboring village, about two kilometers from Östra Tommarp. Timetables may change; check the current schedule before you travel. If you are looking for hotels for a stay in Tommarp, the area’s historical highlights can guide your choice of destination—from church art and monastic heritage to early settlement history and town development.

Discover more destinations: Hammenhög, Vitaby, Sankt Olof, Borrby, Gärsnäs, Simrishamn V, Kivik, Vik

For the broader travel overview: Simrishamn.