Kastelholm Castle

Kastelholm Castle, set amid the woods and inlets of the Åland Islands, is the archipelago's most important historic monument, a substantial medieval castle whose origins reach back to the fourteenth century. For centuries a stronghold of the Swedish crown guarding the sea route through the Baltic, it hosted kings and royal officials and played a role in the great power struggles of the region. Though partly ruined over time, much has been preserved and restored, and visitors can explore its stone and brick halls, towers, courtyards and vaulted chambers. Set beside water and greenery, and complemented by a nearby open-air museum of old buildings, Kastelholm offers an atmospheric journey into Åland's medieval past.

History

Building began on the southern side in the 1380s, and the castle is first mentioned in 1388, in a charter that passed much of the estate of Bo Jonsson Grip, its first recorded holder, to Margaret I of Denmark. It was at its most important in the 15th and 16th centuries: besieged in 1433 during the Engelbrecht rebellion, taken in 1505 by the Danish naval commander Søren Norby, enlarged by Gustav Vasa, who hunted in the forests around it before he became king, and in 1571 the prison of the deposed Eric XIV, held there by his brother John III; its records of 1559 are the first documented trace of Roma in Finland. Forces loyal to Charles IX took it with artillery in 1599, leaving heavy damage, and after repairs finished by 1631 its role faded; it saw witch trials in the 1660s, much of it was lost to fire in 1745, and after a spell as a prison it was abandoned in the 1770s, until partial restoration in the 20th century and its opening as a museum in the 1990s (Wikipedia, Kastelholm Castle).

Highlights

• The castle halls - the restored stone and brick chambers.
• The towers - the medieval towers and courtyards.
• The vaulted rooms - the atmospheric interiors.
• The open-air museum - the nearby collection of old buildings.

When to go

May to September, the mild summer, is the season to visit, when the castle is open, the surrounding woods and waters are green and the archipelago at its most inviting; long Nordic summer days are ideal. The site is quieter and largely closed outside the summer months.

Things to know

Kastelholm is a partly ruined and restored castle rather than a fully intact palace, and it is mainly open in the summer season, so timing matters. As Åland's most important historic monument, an atmospheric medieval royal stronghold set among woods and water, though, Kastelholm Castle is a genuinely rewarding window on the archipelago's past.

Nearby

The open-air museum of Jan Karlsgården and the Bomarsund ruins lie nearby.

Key facts