Irevik (also known as Ireviken or Ihreviken ) in

Hangvar Hangvar () is a populated area, a ''socken'' (not to be confused with parish), on the Swedish island of Gotland. It comprises the same area as the administrative Hangvar District, established on 1January 2016. Hangvar is the home of football club ...

socken Socken is the name used for a part of a county in Sweden. In Denmark similar areas are known as ''sogn'', in Norway ''sokn'' or ''sogn'' and in Finland ''pitäjä'' ''(socken)''. A socken is a country-side area that was formed around a church, ...

'' north of

Visby Visby () is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably th ...

, is a more than section of the Swedish island

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

's coastline.

History

There are several settlements from

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

s. There are also remains of ancient castles on the cliffs.

The Ihre family

Ihre farm is located at the exit road down to the bay from the country road. The first known owner of the farm was named Hans Eire. His grandson Thomas Ihre moved to

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

from Visby to finally become a judge in

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

Geology

The Ireviken event was the first of three relatively minor

extinction event An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. I ...

s (the Ireviken,

Mulde The Mulde () is a river in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Elbe and is long. The river is formed by the confluence, near Colditz, of the Zwickauer Mulde (running through Zwickau) and the Freiberger Mulde (with ...

, and

Lau Lau or LAU may refer to: People * Lau (surname) * Liu (劉/刘), a common Chinese family name transliterated Lau in Cantonese and Hokkien * Lau clan, one of the Saraswat Brahmin clans of Punjab * LAU (musician): Laura Fares Places * Lebane ...

events) during the

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...

period. The event is best recorded at Ireviken, Gotland, where over 50% of

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...

species became extinct.

Beach and nature

Fumana procumbens (Nadelröschen) IMG 20995

The bay is framed by high cliffs and the beach is also considered one of Gotland's best beaches. In the middle is a long sandy beach which is one of Gotland's most visited. The river Ireån opens into the bay. Formerly a

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 m ...

, Irevik is mainly a summer cottage area, and nearly 200 cottages are on mature forest sites. The houses have been built for a long time, and the area therefore has a mixed character without a hint of mass-produced cottage area. Although the area is not very large, there are three different entertainment establishments – the Ihrebaden, Ihre farm and Ihre mill. In the northern part of Irevik lies Sigsarve beach. It is also the starting point of the 28-square-kilometer Hall-Hangvar Nature Reserve, which is Gotland's largest. From Sigsarve beach, the reserve stretches along a stretch of coastline. In the eastern part of the reserve, on the other side of the road, is Träskmyr moor, the largest preserved moor on Gotland. It is a so-called ''agmyr'' (Swedish for a calcareous bog. There are many unusual flowers in the reserve, such as the

Fumana ''Fumana'' (needle sunrose) is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Cistaceae. They are small perennial shrubs with five-lobed yellow flowers, native to rocky and sandy soils of Europe and wider Mediterranean region. ''Fumana'' shrubs ...

or needle sunrose (''Fumana procumbens''),

Euphrasia ''Euphrasia'', or eyebright, is a genus of about 450 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae (formerly included in the Scrophulariaceae), with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are semi-parasitic on grasses and other ...

and alpine key.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Irevik has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

. This renders cooler summers and milder winters than most of mainland Sweden. However, in spite of its marine position the climate is very much influenced by continental airflows. The precipitation amount is quite moderated, especially for an oceanic climate, but is relatively consistent throughout the year.

References

Gotland {{Gotland County