Kastelholm Castle
Encyclopedia
| Kastelholm Castle Kastelholma (linna) |
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 View of the refurbished castle in 2004 |
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| Date of construction: | Original ~1300s and restored from 1982 through 1989 |
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Kastelholm Castle is a Swedish-built medieval castle located off Road 2 in Sund
Sund, Åland
Sund is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland and is very rich in history and culture and is one of the official 27 national landscapes of Finland.The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...
, Åland, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, approximately 25 km (15.5 mi) northeast of Mariehamn
Mariehamn
Mariehamn is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city...
, overlooking a fjord to the south of the village of Kastelholm. Along with Hämeenlinna
Häme castle
Häme Castle is a medieval castle in Hämeenlinna, Finland. The castle is located on the coast of lake Vanajavesi in the city center. The castle was originally located on an island....
, Olavinlinna in Savonlinna
Olavinlinna
Olavinlinna is a 15th century three-tower castle located in Savonlinna, Finland. It is the northernmost medieval stone fortress still standing.- Construction :...
, Raasepori, and Turku
Turku Castle
Turku Castle is a monument of Finnish history situated in the city of Turku in Finland. Together with Turku Cathedral, the castle is one of the oldest buildings still in use in Finland. Turku Castle is the largest surviving medieval building in Finland and one of the largest surviving medieval...
, Kastelholm is one of only five surviving Finnish medieval fortresses that are also considered to be architecturally substantial. Built in the 14th century, and held in fief during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
by various nobles, feudal chiefs, and kings, it had significant period in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Built in the 14th century, originally on a small island surrounded by moats filled with water and planted with several rows of poles, the castle has been of strategic importance in consolidating Swedish authority
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
over the Baltic
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
over the last several centuries; with several Swedish monarchs parading through the history. It was first damaged in the 1599 civil war when it came under king Charles IX control and was rebuilt by 1631. The castle was gutted and ruined in 1745. In the 1930s, it was partially used as a granary. However, since then it has been refurbished and is now an important part of the tourist circuit in Åland.
History
Construction began in the 1380s on the castle's southern side. It was first mentioned in 1388 in the contract of Queen Margaret IMargaret I of Denmark
Margaret I was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and founder of the Kalmar Union, which united the Scandinavian countries for over a century. Although she acted as queen regnant, the laws of contemporary Danish succession denied her formal queenship. Her title in Denmark was derived from her...
of Denmark, where a large portion of the inheritance of Bo Jonsson Grip
Bo Jonsson (Grip)
Bo Jonsson was head of the royal council and marshal under the regency of Magnus IV of Sweden. Also in the council was his friend and colleague, Karl Ulfsson av Ulvåsa, eldest son of Saint Birgitta...
, the castle's first occupier, was given to the queen. The mansus
Mansus
A mansus, sometimes anglicised as manse, was a unit of land assessment in medieval France, roughly equivalent of the hide. In the 9th century AD, it began to be used by Charlemagne to determine how many warriors would be provided: one for every three mansi, with smaller landholders collectively...
unit rŏk, a taxation term, was first introduced during the 14th century for the maintenance of the castle.
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Danish Steward of the Realm
Steward of the Realm was an office at the Royal Danish Court. With the coronation of Eric VII of Denmark it became an important office, taking over the role of the Seneschal as the de facto prime minister of the country. Prior to that the Rigshofmester had merely been the administrative leader of...
during the period of 1453–1456, received the Kastelholm fief in 1485, he did so with the understanding that he was "faithfully to build and improve the walls and buildings of the said castle of Kastelholm, which are needful for the said castle, to the benefit and use of the crown of Sweden, as he has promised us willingly to do". Of the several enhancements made to the original construction, one of the most notable was by Gustav Vasa
Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....
, before he became king of Sweden, who regularly used to hunt on the castle grounds. In fact, the hunting-grounds of the castle's forests were protected by law permitting only the castle's governor and the king to hunt here.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
naval officer Søren Norby captured the castle from the Swedes. The presence of Gypsies in Finland is first mentioned in the castle's record books in 1559.
King John III
John III of Sweden
-Family:John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland , house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica. She was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland...
kept his deposed brother Eric XIV
Eric XIV of Sweden
-Family and descendants:Eric XIV had several relationships before his marriage. With Agda Persdotter he had four daughters:#Margareta Eriksdotter , married 1592 to Olov Simonsson, vicar of Horn....
in captivity in the castle in the Fall of 1571. In the late 16th century, the castle belonged to Katarina Stenbock, an enemy of the King of Sweden Eric XIV. With the help of cannons, the castle was damaged severely when the forces of king Charles IX
Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...
conquered it in the 1599 civil war.
Åbo and Björneborg County
Turku and Pori Province was a province of independent Finland from 1917 to 1997. The province was however founded as a county in 1634 when today's Finland was an integrated part of Sweden. It is named after the cities of Turku and Pori ....
at which time Kastelholm lost its status as an administrative centre and its overall importance just three years after the damages were repaired. From the late 1600s began the castle to decay and much of it burned down in an extensive fire in 1745. For a time, it served as a prison but by the 1770s it was abandoned. At some point after 1809, the post office was moved from the castle to the Bomarsund
Bomarsund, Åland
The Battle of Bomarsund was fought by an Anglo-French task force against Russian defenses at Bomarsund during the Crimean War.-Background:Bomarsund is a 19th century fortress which had started to built in 1832 by Russia in Sund on the Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea...
, as was the Russian Commandant's secretariat.
Kastelholm was partly used as a granary
Granary
A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals.-Early origins:From ancient times grain...
and as a quarry for local farmers in the 1930s. A restoration program, advanced from 1982 through 1989, involved archaeological excavations. Today, much of the Kastelhom Castle is reconstructed and since the 1990s has contained the Outdoor Museum Jan Karlsgården
Architecture
The castle was built on a small island to strengthen the Swedish presence on Åland. The island is surrounded by water and moats filled with several lines of poles, while the castle is surrounded by a 3 m (9.8 ft) wall.Built of brick and mortar, the castle's original design included a rectangular stone keep and a residential wing. Of the two gate towers, reaching to 15 m (49.2 ft) in height in some places, the large one located between the main castle and the outer bailey
Bailey
-Fictional Characters:* Beetle Bailey, a comic strip created by Mort Walker* Bailey Pickett, a character on The Suite Life on Deck* Miranda Bailey, a character Grey's Anatomy...
was built circa the 15th century, while the other is located between the outer bailey and the castle's exterior was built in the 16th century. The hall, of later construction, became re-purposed as a granary. The castle includes a chapel; its patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
s are Berard of Carbio
Berard of Carbio
Saint Berard of Carbio is a thirteenth century saint and martyr. He was born into a noble family of Leopardi, and was a native of Carbio in Umbria, a province of Italy. He and Saints Peter, Otho, Accursius, and Adjutus are venerated as the Franciscan Protomartyrs.-Life:Berard was received into the...
and four other Moroccan
Moroccan people
The Moroccan people are a people that share a common Moroccan culture, ancestry and speak the Moroccan variant of the Arabic language or a Berber language as a mother tongue....
martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s.
Tourism
The castle is a major tourist attraction easily accessible by car or bus from Mariehamn. Excavated items, such as early stove tiles, are on exhibit in the hall. A medieval festival, replete with dance, food, and jousting occurs each year in July.The area around and down to Stornäset has become a royal estate with a golf course also available in the area.
Other attractions nearby include the Outdoor Museum Jan Karlsgården, which is next to the castle, and the nearby ruins of Bomarsund
Bomarsund, Åland
The Battle of Bomarsund was fought by an Anglo-French task force against Russian defenses at Bomarsund during the Crimean War.-Background:Bomarsund is a 19th century fortress which had started to built in 1832 by Russia in Sund on the Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea...
, a huge Russian-built naval fortress. The fjord on which the castle is located on is used for sailing and for boating.