Raseborg Castle

Raseborg was built in the 1370s on a rock that then stood at the head of a sea inlet, guarding the trade route along the southern coast, and it was abandoned in 1553. Land uplift, which continues to raise this coast out of the sea, has since left the castle standing above a meadow rather than water, so the setting has to be imagined. The ruin has been consolidated and can be walked, with towers, curtain walls, gates and cellars, and a summer theatre performs in the grounds. The village of Snappertuna around it keeps a church and old farm buildings, and a footpath loops through the meadow below the rock.

History

Raseborg is thought to have been founded by Bo Jonsson Grip, its first phase completed between 1373 and 1378, the year of its first written mention, though it has also been suggested that the Livonian Brothers of the Sword began it and named it after Ratzeburg. It was built on a small island at the head of a sea bay to guard Sweden's interests in southern Finland against Tallinn, in three stages from the 14th to the 16th century, with a D-shaped plan around an inner bailey, a round thick-walled tower, outer walls and a wooden barrier in the water against ships. Swedish and Danish forces and even pirates fought over it in the Middle Ages, but as the land rose and the sea withdrew it became ever harder to reach by boat, and it was abandoned in 1553, three years after the founding of Helsinki took its place (Wikipedia, Raseborg Castle).

Highlights

• A castle left inland by land uplift - the sea inlet now a meadow.
• Consolidated towers and walls - the fourteenth-century ruin.
• Cellars and gates - the interior spaces still walkable.
• Summer theatre in the grounds - the seasonal performances below the rock.

When to go

May to September, when the site is staffed and the theatre runs; the ruin can be visited outside that but with no services. Two hours.

Good to know

It is a ruin with limited interpretation and no roof anywhere. Steps and floors are uneven. Out of season nothing is open. Public transport is poor and a car is close to necessary.

Nearby

Ekenas is south-west; Fiskars lies north.

Key facts