Christinehof Castle

Christina Piper built this in the 1730s out of the profits of the Andrarum alum works, which she bought in 1725 as the widow of the statesman Carl Piper and ran herself - a large yellow-ochre house on a lake with a plain baroque front and interiors that have never been modernised, still without electricity in parts. The alum works, a couple of kilometres away, was the biggest industrial operation in Skane in its day and its remains and quarries are walkable. Around both, an eco-park of some five thousand hectares covers beech woods, meadows and limestone ground with marked trails, bat colonies in the old workings and a good deal of orchid habitat.

History

In 1387 the estates of Kolstrup and Sjöstrup were joined into Andrarum, which Christina Piper, widow of Carl Piper, bought in 1725. She built the present house in the German baroque style from 1737 to 1740 and named it Christinehof after herself (Wikipedia, Christinehof Castle).

Highlights

• A 1730s ochre baroque house - built on alum money.
• Unmodernised interiors - parts still without electricity.
• The Andrarum alum works - quarries and remains, walkable.
• An eco-park of beech and limestone - trails, bats and orchids.

When to go

May to September for the house; trails year round. Two hours.

Practical notes

The castle opens on limited days and often by tour. Interiors are sparse and cold. Trails are unsurfaced and muddy after rain. You need a car.

Nearby

Brosarp's hills are east; Simrishamn is on the coast.

Key facts