Kapelludden - Chapel Ruins
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Kapelludden is a wetland on the east coast of the island of Öland, Sweden, some four kilometers from the village of Bredsättra in Bredsättra socken, Borgholm Municipality. The area is rich in birdlife, and has important cultural remains (including the ruins of
Saint Birgitta's chapel Saint Birgitta's chapel ( sv, Sankt Britas kapell) is located on the east coast of the island of Öland, Sweden, some four kilometers from the village of Bredsättra in Bredsättra socken, Borgholm Municipality, in a marshy area called Kapellud ...
) and a functioning Kapelludden lighthouse. Called Sik(a)varp or Sikehamn, the place was already a settlement for fishers in the Middle Ages and a trade center of uncertain importance, though local legendary stories claim that the settlement was so important that
John III of Sweden John III ( sv , Johan III, fi, Juhana III; 20 December 1537 – 17 November 1592) was King of Sweden from 1569 until his death. He was the son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife Margaret Leijonhufvud. He was also, quite autonomous ...
revoked the town's trading privileges after complaints from Borgholm and Kalmar.


History

Whether the harbor of Sikvarp was really a commercially important place is not clear, and possibly exaggerated, especially since Johannes Haquini Rhezelius (d. 1666) describes it as a ruinous, derelict market town. No important ancient harbor structure appears to have existed, though there are remains of foundations and mounds. Investigations in 1978 indicated mudflats, shallow pits lined with a layer of clay, and evidence was found of significant herring fisheries. The bishop of Linköping may have held the port in his private possessions, of strategic importance given the diocese's extensive land holdings to the west of Kapelludden.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapelludden Landforms of Kalmar County Ă–land Wetlands of Sweden