Helgö is an island in

Ekerö Municipality Ekerö Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in the Provinces of Sweden, province of Uppland in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. The name derives from the name of the main island within the municipality whose name is ...

in Stockholm County,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It is situated in the lake

Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is and its greatest depth is 64 m (210 ft). Mälaren spans from east to west. The l ...

. The island's greatest width is about , it is about long and covers .

Excavations at Helgö

The island is perhaps best known for a major archaeological area. The old trading town on Helgö began to emerge around the year 200 AD, 500 years before

Birka Birka (''Birca'' in medieval sources), on the island of Björkö, Ekerö, Björkö (lit. "Birch Island") in present-day Sweden, was an important Viking Age trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as many parts of Continent ...

at Björkö. The first archaeological dig in 1954 uncovered the remains of the early settlement, including a workshop area which attracted international interest. The most notable finds included a small

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

statuette from

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

and a christening scoop from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, both dating from the 6th century. The Indian Buddha statuette, the Irish

crozier A crozier or crosier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...

and the Egyptian Coptic scoop which were found on Helgö, are presently on display in the

Swedish History Museum The Swedish History Museum () is a museum located in Stockholm, Sweden, that covers Swedish archaeology and cultural history from the Mesolithic period to present day. Founded in 1866, it operates as a government agency and is tasked with preservi ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Kaggeholm Castle

The site where Kaggeholm Castle (''Kaggeholms slott'') is located was first mentioned in a land title document in 1287. During the 1500s the farm was owned by members of the families Grip and Bååt. In 1647, Count

Lars Kagg Lars Kagg (1 May 1595 – 19 November 1661) was a Swedish count and military officer. He was a political ally of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, a member of the Privy Council of Sweden and Field Marshal during the Thirty Years' War. Kagg was b ...

(1595–1661) acquired an estate which he named Kaggeholm. Kagg was a political ally of King

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

, a member of the

Privy Council of Sweden The Council of the Realm, or simply The Council ( or : sometimes in ), was a cabinet of medieval origin, consisting of magnates () which advised, and at times co-ruled with, the King of Sweden. The 1634 Instrument of Government, Sweden's fir ...

and Field Marshal during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. The château-style manor house was built in 1725 after drawings and designs by Baroque architect

Nicodemus Tessin the Younger Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger (23 May 1654 – 10 April 1728) was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator. The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the midd ...

(1654–1728). From 1939, it was owned by the

Swedish Pentecostal movement The Swedish Pentecostal Movement () is a Pentecostal movement in Sweden. Many, but not all, of these, are members of the Pentecostal Alliance of Independent Churches, which was founded in 2001. William Kay, Anne Dyer, ''European Pentecostalism' ...

. It has been used as a training center by nearby Kaggeholm College (''Kaggeholms folkhögskola''). Today Kaggeholm is operated as a conference center managed by the Swedish property development company Sisyfosgruppen Holding.

Royal Swedish Academy volumes

The findings from the excavations at Helgö have been reported in a series of volumes published by the

Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters or Vitterhetsakademien abbreviated KVHAA ( or or ) is the Sweden, Swedish Swedish Royal Academies, royal academy for the Humanities. Its ...

, beginning with Volume 1 covering the period 1954–1956. Volume 18, the final volume in the series, was published in 2011.''Excavations at Helgö XVIII: Conclusions and New Aspects''
Royal Swedish Academy.

Images

References

External links

Kaggeholm websiteWikimapia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helgo Archaeological sites in Sweden Islands of Mälaren Viking Age populated places Former populated places in Sweden Vendel Period Ekerö Municipality