The castle ruins in Gamla Höjentorp dates back to the 13th century. The castle is said to have been donated to the bishop of Skara in 1284, but was then returned to the crown at the time of Gustav Vasa’s reformation. At the middle of the 17th century, Queen Kristina gave the castle as a wedding gift to Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie’s wife, Maria Eufrosyne. In 1722 the castle burnt down and it is said that Queen Ulrika Eleonora was visiting at the time. She watched the fire from a nearby hill, which was then named after this Drottningkullen (the Queen Hill).
Today only the ruins of the basement remain of the original castle, but the place bears witness of the importance of this area in the Middle Ages, which was also when Skara had its period of greatness. In the overgrown castle garden are beautiful ashes and lime-trees and in the slope down towards the Garden Lake it smells of ramsons and other rare plants.
References:The Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built. They were also the largest and strongest fortification in both the ancient and medieval world.
Initially built by Constantine the Great, the walls surrounded the new city on all sides, protecting it against attack from both sea and land. As the city grew, the famous double line of the Theodosian Walls was built in the 5th century. Although the other sections of the walls were less elaborate, they were, when well-manned, almost impregnable for any medieval besieger.