Hakoinen Castle, Janakkala, Finland

Hakoinen Castle was an ancient hill fortification, but nowadays there's only some ruins left. Dated medieval, the fortification was situated on a very steep rock by lake Kernaala (Kernaalanjärvi) reminiscent of a hill fort tradition. The top of the rock is 63 meters above the water level in the lake. Today very little remains of the castle. Equally little is known about its origins. One postulation is that it was built by the Swedes as their original stronghold in the medieval Häme area.

The castle was probably built at the end of the 13th century or during the early 14th century. It has been speculated that Hakoinen might have been the fort that was attacked by invading Novgorodian forces in 1311 during the Swedish-Novgorodian Wars, as described in the Novgorod Chronicle.

Eventually Hakoinen was left out of use. Some activity seems to have remained there until 1380s. The castle rock was later a part of a large estate belonging to the bailiff of Häme Castle. According to excavations, the castle was divided into two parts. Lower defensive constructions were mostly made of wood. Constructions on the rock were made of bricks and rocks. The castle probably had one tower.

Although very little remains of the castle, the medieval flora and huge sights from the top of the hill makes Hakoinen castle hill interesting place to visit.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Markus Kauppinen (3 years ago)
A great place all year round. During the peak of the corona pandemic, the owner of the nearby manor managed to get permits to close the area. You can no longer admire this wonderful place and the scenery that opens up from there.

Bjornar Sele (6 years ago)
Gives a nice view over the surroundings. Well prepared path.?

Esko Ojanperä (7 years ago)
Historiallinen muisto merkki vuorella ollut aikanaa linoitus asukkaiden suojapaikka

Pinja Vuorinen (7 years ago)

Make Make (7 years ago)
The place has an interesting history and the views from the top are also good in almost every direction. A steep path leads to the top, after that there are narrow stairs, which, oddly enough, do not have any kind of handrail (however, the fall is worse than it would be good to have). In itself, this makes it clear why it has been quite easy to defend the castle from the enemy. Further up, along the path leading from the stairs to the top, there is a metal railing, which is also missing the lower cross tube between one of the posts. After reaching the top, you can already imagine the views from the castle almost a thousand years ago. People with weak nerves or fear of heights may not want to climb. It is also good to be moderately fit, even if the climbing distance is not very long. You just have to wonder why someone had to climb to throw their garbage on the mountain (judging from the garbage, the youth was involved).

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