Tavastia Castle or Häme Castle ( fi, Hämeen linna, sv, Tavastehus slott) is a
medieval castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
in
Tavastia Proper Tavastia or Tavastland may refer to:
* Häme (Swedish: ''Tavastland'', Latin: ''Tavastia'')
* Tavastia (historical province), a historical province of the kingdom of Sweden, located in modern-day Finland
* Tavastia (constituency), formerly Tavasti ...
,
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 ...
. It is located in
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 ...
, the city between
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
and
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
. Originally located on an island, the castle now sits on the coast of lake
Vanajavesi
Vanajavesi is a large lake in southern Finland, in the provinces of Pirkanmaa and Kanta-Häme. It is part of the Kokemäenjoki basin. The lake gathers waters from a wide area in the regions of Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper and parts of the Päijä ...
. The castle consists of a central
keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
and surrounding
curtain walls, enclosed by a
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
. The keep originally had five
turret
Turret may refer to:
* Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building
* Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon
* Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope
* Mi ...
s, but only two are apparent today. The curtain wall has a gatehouse, battlements, an octagonal brick corner turret, and a round gun turret. The lower tiers of the keep and curtain wall are of masoned
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
and the upper tiers are red brickwork.
Although the exact date is disputed, the castle is generally considered to have been constructed in the 13th century. In addition to its status as a military fortress and home for Swedish nobility, the castle has seen use as a prison, and is currently a museum operated by the
Finnish National Board of Antiquities
The Finnish Heritage Agency ( fi, Museovirasto, sv, Museiverket), previously known in English as the National Board of Antiquities, preserves Finland's material cultural heritage: collects, studies and distributes knowledge of it. The agency is ...
. The castle is one of the main
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural b ...
s of southern Finland, being the centerpiece of the city and a popular venue for events, including
renaissance fair
A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire or Renaissance festival is an outdoor gathering open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which purportedly recreates a historical setting for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent the ...
s.
History
The castle's age is disputed. Traditionally, the construction of the castle has been connected to
Birger Jarl
Birger Jarl, also known as ''Birger Magnusson'' (21 October 1266), was a Swedish statesman, ''jarl'', and a member of the House of Bjelbo, who played a pivotal role in the consolidation of Sweden. Birger also led the Second Swedish Crusade, whi ...
's
Second Swedish Crusade
The Second Swedish Crusade was a possible 13th-century Swedish military expedition against the Tavastians, in present-day Finland, led by Birger Jarl. Many details of the Crusade are debated. After the crusade, Tavastia gradually started to fal ...
, which would date the castle in the mid-13th century. However, there are no archeological finds from the castle that can be firmly dated to a period earlier than the 1320s. An earlier fortification from the early 1300s only some away in
Hakoinen also contests Tavastia Castle's age, as only one castle ("Tauestahus") is listed in Tavastia in a royal document from 1308. Also, the Russian
Novgorod First Chronicle
The Novgorod First Chronicle (russian: Новгородская первая летопись) or The Chronicle of Novgorod, 1016–1471 is the most ancient extant Old Russian chronicle of the Novgorodian Rus'. It reflects a tradition different ...
only mentions one castle during their plundering of Tavastia in 1311, its description also matching with the castle in Hakoinen.
Novgorod Chronicle
. English translation.
In the mid-1500s, under Gustav I
Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksföre ...
, the castle lost much of its military importance. Some restoration was conducted in the early 1600s, and in 1639, the castle's nearby settlements gained official city status as 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 ...
. The castle continued to be neglected by Swedish rule throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, as its military interests shifted to the southern Baltic sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
. Tavastia Castle was briefly ceded to the Russian army during the Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...
, after which the castle's defensive systems were upgraded with bastions
A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...
.
After the Finnish War
The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic ...
, when Finland became the Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecessor ...
under Russian rule, the castle was turned into a prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
. It served as such until 1953, when massive restoration work started. The castle has been a public museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
since 1979, the facilities of which can also be rented for private events.
See also
* Aulanko Castle
Aulanko Castle ( fi, Aulangonlinna, sv, Karlbergs slott) is an ancient hillfort located in Hämeenlinna, Tavastia Proper, Finland. The Iron Age residence and the cemetery are also known near the castle. The Aulanko Castle has developed a diverse ...
References
External links
*
* Official site
Tavastia Castle
at the Finnis
National Board of Antiquities
Medieval castles in Finland, thisisFINLAND.fi
The Association of Castles and Museums around the Baltic Sea
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hame castle
Castles in Finland
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
Buildings and structures in Kanta-Häme
Museums in Kanta-Häme
History of Kanta-Häme
Historic house museums in Finland
Brick Gothic
Gothic architecture in Finland