Gråborg Castle

Färjestaden, Öland, Sweden

Gråborg is the largest ancient castle in Öland. It was built probably in the 6th century and enlarged through Middle Ages. According old tax reports dating back to the year 1450, Gråborg was owned by Vadstena abbey and functioned as a some kind of trade center. It was used for defence against Danish even in 1677. According to legend Gråborg was strongly associated with king Burislev Sverkersson who had grown up there with his half-sister Sofia of Minsk.

Gråborg Castle consisted of a circular wall, about 4-7 meter tall. There were three entrances and one of them was vaulted in the Middle Ages. Archaeological excavations have revealed lot of findings, which are stored today in Kalmar Museum.

There are medieval ruins of the chapel of St. Knut on the north side of castle.

References:

Upptäck Öland

Address

Borg 106, Färjestaden, Öland, Sweden

See all sites in Färjestaden, Öland

Details

Founded: 500 AD
Category: Castles and fortifications in Sweden
Historical period: Migration Period (Sweden)

More Information

en.wikipedia.org
www.olanningen.com

Rating

4.3/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Algutsrum Church (4,8 km)

Borgholm Castle (22,9 km)
Kalmar Castle (15,2 km)
Långe Jan Lighthouse (53,8 km)
Kalmar Cathedral (14,6 km)
Borgholm City Museum (23,7 km)
Eketorp Fort (41,9 km)
Solliden Palace (22,4 km)
Ismantorp Fortress (9,1 km)
Vickleby Church (13,2 km)

User Reviews

Ludovic Nion (3 years ago)
A nice breath in the Swedish countryside

Leonardo Romanello (3 years ago)
Need steps? Love cattle? Then don’t miss Gråborg. ?

Zommy NL (3 years ago)
Very interesting place with loads of old and ancient buildings, graves and several hiking trails. We visited the wall ( which has cute little goats in them now) and the old ruined chapel. Signs are very clear and available in several languages (See, En, Ger). You can spent the entire day here of you walk all the trails or quickly stop by the chapel and wall as we did. Entry is free

claire gisubizo (gisubizo claire) (4 years ago)
Historical information and its beautiful view makes it different

Pardalis Georgios (4 years ago)
The chapel ruin could get some better care,but combining it with the fortress ruin and the nice hiking paths around makes it a pleasant experience.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Mark1792

Historic Site of the week

Rosenborg Castle

Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.

The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.

Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.