Lojsta Castle (''Lojsta slott'') in

Stånga Stånga is a locality on the Swedish island of Gotland, with 491 inhabitants in 2014. Stånga is also the name of the larger populated area, socken (not to be confused with parish). It comprises the same area as the administrative Stånga District ...

socken on the border of

Lojsta Lojsta 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 Lojsta District, established on 1January 2016. The rift valley landscape of Lojsta is unusu ...

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 ...

, Sweden, is, despite its name, not a "castle" in the normal sense, i.e. it is not a palacelike manor. It is the ruins of a once fortified estate, consisting of houses surrounded by a wall and a moat. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, Lojsta Castle was a defence-structure, placed on an island in one of the small

Lojsta Lakes The Lojsta Lakes ( sv, Lojstasjöarna) (sometimes referred to as the Lojsta Lake) (Gutnish: ''Lojsta träsk'') are five lakes in Lojsta and Stånga sockens, Gotland, Sweden. The names of the lakes are (west to east) ''Bjärsträsk'', ''Fridträs ...

in the middle of Gotland.Tim Ecott
On Gotland pond
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 20 August 2005. The

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

is believed to have been used by the Vitalians who supported the captured Swedish king at the time, Albert of Mecklenburg. The Vitalians were pirates and they used Gotland as their base. In 1404, they were defeated by the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

and forced to relinquish Lojsta Castle and the other two strongholds they had on Gotland. Today there is not much remaining of the stronghold. In the beginning of the 20th century, archaeologists surveyed the area but the theories they proposed are questioned today, for example, observations about three house foundations in the fortress. The buildings were most likely made out of wood, about , and today there are no traces of them above ground. The fortress was surrounded by a dug

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 ...

, long, wide and up to high, that together with an embankment and a

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

separated the fortress' inner courtyard from the outer. Today, the lake's surface level is estimated at about lower than it was during the Middle Ages and it is divided into three smaller lakes. The remains of the fortress is situated between the ''Slottsträsk'' and the ''Broträsk'' lakes. When the fortress was in use, it had a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

to the mainland, of which you can still see remains. Nowadays the ruins of the fortress can be reached by land.

Lojsta Hall

About northeast of the Lojsta Castle, is the Lojsta Hall, a reconstructed

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

building. It is built on the remaining foundation of an Iron Age house. The site was excavated in 1929 by John Nihlén. The archeological finds were few and not very remarkable, but they suggests that the house had been inhabited during the

Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...

. Inside the remains of the foundation, parts of two log boats were found. In 1932, a reconstruction of the

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...

was erected, showing how the building might have looked during the Iron Age. The people and their animals probably lived together in the hall. The inhabitants raised livestock, but trade was also an important part of their livelihood. The roof of the hall is covered with saw-sedge, a common plant on the Gotlandic mires.

References

External links

Archaeological sites and site museums, UNESCO, 1998Gotland.net about Lojsta Castle
{{Coord, 57, 19, 14, N, 18, 25, 10, E, type:landmark, display=title Ruined castles in Sweden Hill forts in Sweden Buildings and structures in Gotland County