Name: Bergkvara Castle Ruins
Rating: 2

Routes

Planner

Features

Updates

App

Get the App

Discover

Places to see

Castles

Sweden

Kronoberg

Växjö

Bergkvara Castle Ruins

Discover

Places to see

Castles

Sweden

Kronoberg

Växjö

Bergkvara Castle Ruins

Recommended by 3 hikers

Save

Location: Växjö, Kronoberg, Sweden

Save

See hikes here

Take Me There

Tips

Tevion1505 (Andreas)

August 5, 2021

Bergkvara Slottsruin is located around 5 kilometers west of the outskirts of Växjös, on a small island on the northern shore of Bergkvarasjön. It is the ruin of the fortified manor house of the Bergkvara estate, built around 1470.

In the 15th century, under its then owner Arvid Trolle, Gut Bergkvara was one of the largest private estates in Scandinavia. Arvid Trolle, who was also known as "the rich Arvid" as one of the richest men of his time, had the befitting Bergkvara Slott built on the island in Bergkvarasjön.

At that time, when almost all buildings were still made of wood, the building of today's castle ruins was called a "solid house" - a large stone house that was a combination of a luxurious residential building and a defensive structure at the same time. It was at least six stories high, had walls up to two meters thick and was surrounded by a double moat. There was a hanging tower at each of the four corners of the top floor and the attic was converted into a shooting loft.

With a length of 22 meters and a width of 15 meters, the castle had a total area of around 1,800 square meters spread over all floors and was probably one of the most luxurious buildings of its time. This luxury came to an end in 1542 when, after a long siege, Bergkvara was stormed, looted and set on fire by the peasant army led by Nils Dacke.

The castle was then abandoned and began to fall into disrepair, although the actual decline into today's ruin only began after 1732. At this point, General Carl von Otter had bought the estate and had the copper plates removed from the roof of the castle in order to partially pay for the estate with the proceeds from the sale. The further deterioration of the unprotected structure was then only a matter of time.

The estate has been owned by the Posse family since 1784 and is not completely open to the public. The family runs the nostalgically decorated café Svenska Tantens Trädgårdscafé and a few holiday apartments on the farm. Access to the impressive, several-story-high ruin is only possible during daylight hours.

Source: guidebook-sweden.com/de/reisefuehrer/reiseziel/bergkvara-slottsruin-medialterliche-schlossruine-vaexjoe

Translated by Google •

Immi

3 days ago

Nice photo opportunity 🤙

Translated by Google •

In the know? Log-in to add a tip for other adventurers!

Details

Informations

Elevation 190 m

Weather

Tuesday 7 October

13°C

12°C

0 %

If you start your activity now...

Max wind speed: 2.0 km/h

See hikes here

Take Me There

Location: Växjö, Kronoberg, Sweden

Bergkvara Castle Ruins

Other Popular Places to Check Out

We value your privacy ⛰️

We value your privacy ⛰️