Hakoinen Castle (''Hakoisten linnavuori'' in Finnish) is the ruins of a fortification on a hill in

Janakkala Janakkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its administrative centre is in Turenki, which is often erroneously shown on maps as being "Janakkala". Janakkala is located along the Highway 3 ( E12) in the province of Southern Finland and is part of th ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Dated to the medieval period, the fortification was situated on a very steep-sided rock by Lake Kernaala (''Kernaalanjärvi'') in a manner reminiscent of the

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

tradition. The top of the rock is above the water level of the lake. Today very little remains of the castle. Equally little is known about its origins. The name of the castle is not historical and was taken from the nearby Hakoinen mansion (''Haga gård'' in Swedish). The original name is not known, but it may have been "Häme Castle" (''Tavastehus'' in Swedish) which today is used for a later castle in the nearby town of

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...

. A source from 1625 calls Hakoinen as the "old Tauaste hus". "Tauestahus" Castle is first mentioned in sources in 1308. The castle was probably built at the end of the 13th century or in the early 14th century. It has been speculated that Hakoinen might have been the fort that was attacked by invading

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

ian forces in 1311 during the Swedish-Novgorodian Wars, as described in the

Chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

:Novgorod Chronicle
. English translation. :''"The men of Novgorod went in war over sea to the country of the Germans, against the Finnish ( Yem) people -- And the Germans fell back into the citadel. For the place was very strong and firm, on a high rock, not having access from any side. And they sent with greeting, asking for peace, but the men of Novgorod did not grant peace, and they stood three days and three nights wasting the district."'' Eventually Hakoinen was abandoned. Some activity seems to have continued there until the 1380s. The castle rock was later part of a large estate belonging to the

bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

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 of bricks and rocks. The castle probably had one tower. The site has only been excavated in the early 20th century.

References

External links

3D panoramas of the castle.
{{coord, 60, 52, 39, N, 24, 35, 14, E, region:FI_type:landmark, display=title Former castles in Finland Ruins in Finland Buildings and structures in Kanta-Häme

See also

References

Further reading

External links