Övraby was a village that was left after the town
Halmstad
Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Socia ...
in
Halland moved five kilometers to the south in 1320.
The town Halmstad is believed to have been moved because the ships were growing too big to be able to travel up the river
Nissan
, trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
, one of the four rivers that flows through the county of Halland. The city would also be easier to defend with its new coastal position.
On 2-3 November 1563, the Swedish forces led by King
Erik XIV and
Danish forces led by
Fredrik II
Fredrik is a masculine Germanic given name derived from the German name ''Friedrich'' or Friederich, from the Old High German ''fridu'' meaning "peace" and ''rîhhi'' meaning "ruler" or "power". It is the common form of Frederick in Norway, Finland ...
clashed in Övraby. The Danish forces won the battle, and afterwards torched and plundered the village. The village was never rebuilt.
The only building still standing from Övraby today is the ruin of the stone church, known today as Övraby Kyrkoruin. The church's roof is the oldest surviving example of an ornate ridge
purlin in Sweden, dating back to the 12th century. In 1911 a Roman burial site was excavated from Övraby, deposited in a cist made of thin limestone slabs.
References
Populated places in Halland County
{{Halland-geo-stub