Gräsö is an island in
Östhammar Municipality
Östhammar Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Uppsala County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city status in Sweden, city of Östhammar.
The present municipality was created during the local governmen ...
, off the coast of
Uppland
Uppland is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea.
The name literally ...
province on the eastern coast of Sweden. It is also the name of a village on the island which lies at the southern end of the
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia (; ; ) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the northern part of Sweden's east coast ( West Bothnia an ...
.
The island has an area of and a population of about 800. The island has a mixture of fields and woodland. It is a popular summer resort.
Location
Gräsö and the smaller island of
Örskär to the north are the most northerly of the
Roslagen islands, the northern part of the
Stockholm archipelago
The Stockholm Archipelago () is the largest archipelago in Sweden, and the second-largest archipelago in the Baltic Sea (the largest being the Archipelago Sea across the Baltic in Finland). Part of the archipelago has been designated as a Rams ...
.
Gräsö may be reached by ferry from
Öregrund on the mainland to the west.
The island has a gently rolling terrain with woods mixed with cultivated fields and pasture.
There is abundant wildlife including
fox,
badger
Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...
,
deer
A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
and
moose
The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...
.
Sea eagles nest on the island.
History
In the past the people lived mainly on fishing, hunting and farming.
There is a graveyard from the
Viking Age
The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...
in the grazed pasture to the east of Gräsö gård, with 55 graves.
This was probably beside a trading post that later gained a more settled farming population practicing arable farming and raising cattle.
In 1548
Gustav Vasa evicted the farmers from the region and founded a new estate at Gräsö gård.
In the early 1600s the farmstead was converted into a manor.
Gräsö Church was founded in 1695 and consecrated in 1697.
In 1719 the Russians raided the island, looting and burning all the farm buildings.
A relic from that time is an altar in Klockarhagen where the Russians held their religious services.
The church sacristy was built in 1753 as part of the reconstruction after Russian raids of 1719.
The church was restored in 1997 for its 300th anniversary.
Today
there were about 800 permanent residents, but in the summer the population rises as many visitors come to stay for their holidays.
The island has a kindergarten and an elementary school for students up to grade 3.
There are many small businesses in the agriculture and handicraft industries.
Visitor facilities include hostels and camping.
There is a family campground with a restaurant and miniature golf, craft and curio shops and a small market.
Gräsö gård is now a nature reserve owned by the municipality, near to the ferry landing.
It includes hiking trails, meadows with many flowers, rocks and woods, and picnic areas.
Some of the meadows are fenced off, and cows graze in others.
There is a 28-bed hostel.
The main building was built at the turn of the century after a fire in 1890.
Gallery
File:Djurstens fyr 2.jpg, Djursten lighthouse at Västerbyn on the west side of Gräsö
File:Djurstens fyrplats fyren.jpg, Another view of the lighthouse
File:Höst på Gräsö.jpg, West side of the island in evening (4 April 2012, 18:06:26)
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
External links
Gräsö.nu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graso
Islands of Uppsala County