Backaskog Castle

The Premonstratensians founded a house here in the thirteenth century and after the monastery closed at the Reformation in 1537 the Ramel family, father and son, turned it between 1584 and 1653 into the long low white building that stands now. A landscape park was laid out between 1820 and 1840, and Karl XV, who held the estate from 1853, as crown prince and then king, until his death in 1872, improved the house and its grounds. Ivosjon is the largest lake in Skane. It runs as a hotel, restaurant and conference house today, with the grounds and the chapel open to walk through. The setting is the strip of land between two lakes, with Ivosjon on one side and Oppmannasjon on the other and paths along both shores.

Highlights

• A thirteenth-century monastery core - inside a much later house.
• The gardens - a landscape park of 1820-1840, later improved by Karl XV.
• The chapel - open with the grounds.
• A strip between two lakes - water on both sides.

When to go

May to September for the gardens. An hour and a half.

Things to know

It is a working hotel, so interiors are largely private. There is no museum. Events close parts of the grounds. Public transport is poor.

Nearby

Ivo island is on the lake; Kristianstad and the Vattenriket are south-west.

Key facts