Lojsta Castle (''Lojsta slott'') in

Stånga Stånga is a urban areas in Sweden, locality on the Swedish island of Gotland, with 491 inhabitants in 2014. Stånga is also the name of the larger populated area, socken (not to be confused with Parishes of the Church of Sweden, parish). It compr ...

socken on the border of Lojsta,

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

, Sweden, is, despite its name, not a "castle" in the normal sense, i.e. it is not a palacelike manor. It is the ruins of a once fortified estate, consisting of houses surrounded by a wall and a moat. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, Lojsta Castle was a defence-structure, placed on an island in one of the small Lojsta Lakes in the middle of Gotland.Tim Ecott
On Gotland pond
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 20 August 2005. The

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

is believed to have been used by the Vitalians who supported the captured Swedish king at the time, Albert of Mecklenburg. The Vitalians were pirates and they used Gotland as their base. In 1404, they were defeated by the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

and forced to relinquish Lojsta Castle and the other two strongholds they had on Gotland. Today there is not much remaining of the stronghold. In the beginning of the 20th century, archaeologists surveyed the area but the theories they proposed are questioned today, for example, observations about three house foundations in the fortress. The buildings were most likely made out of wood, about , and today there are no traces of them above ground. The fortress was surrounded by a dug

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

, long, wide and up to high, that together with an embankment and a

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

separated the fortress' inner courtyard from the outer. Today, the lake's surface level is estimated at lower than it was during the Middle Ages and it is divided into three smaller lakes. The remains of the fortress is situated between the ''Slottsträsk'' and the ''Broträsk'' lakes. When the fortress was in use, it had a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

to the mainland, of which you can still see remains. Nowadays the ruins of the fortress can be reached by land.

Lojsta Hall

About northeast of the Lojsta Castle, is the Lojsta Hall, a reconstructed

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

building. It is built on the remaining foundation of an Iron Age house. The site was excavated in 1929 by John Nihlén. The archeological finds were few and not very remarkable, but they suggests that the house had been inhabited during the

Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

. Inside the remains of the foundation, parts of two

log boats Log most often refers to: * Trunk (botany), the stem and main wooden axis of a tree, called logs when cut ** Logging, cutting down trees for logs ** Firewood, logs used for fuel ** Lumber or timber, converted from wood logs * Logarithm, in mathem ...

were found. In 1932, a reconstruction of the

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

was erected, showing how the building might have looked during the Iron Age. The people and their animals probably lived together in the hall. The inhabitants raised livestock, but trade was also an important part of their livelihood. The roof of the hall is covered with saw-sedge, a common plant on the Gotlandic mires.

References

External links

Archaeological sites and site museums, UNESCO, 1998Gotland.net about Lojsta Castle
{{Coord, 57, 19, 14, N, 18, 25, 10, E, type:landmark, display=title Ruined castles in Sweden Hill forts in Sweden Buildings and structures in Gotland County