SpottingHistory.com is an independent site to provide reliable traveling tips to historic sites and sights all around the world. The site is made by individuals interested in history and historic places all around the world. The purpose is to provide an easy-use, map-based service to help people find interesting places to visit on their journeys.
The The main page displays you the top 200 most interesting (based on views and user rating) sites in the current map area. When you browse or zoom the map, sites will be updated dynamically.
When you zoom in, you will always see more and more complete list of all historic sites in map area.
On the right hand (below the map on mobile devices) you will see list of topmost interesting sites in the present map area. If you click any site link you will see the overview window. You can take a look at photos of selected attraction by clicking them. If you want to see more information about selected site, just click the Read More link at the bottom of info window. It will open a complete description of the selected site. Show on Map button correspondingly zooms and centers map to the selected site.
On the description page you will see all information of the selected attraction. You can also comment the site to help other people to decide where to visit or not.
Top Sights page shows the editor's picks of interesting historic sights for example in a city of region.
Tags page helps you to find all sites tagged with a specific tag, like Top Historic Sites in Helsinki.
Historical Periods gives you information of specific historical period in a selected country and lists the most interesting sites from that period.
City Guides comprise the all historic sites in a specific city.
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Varberg Fortress was built in 1287-1300 by count Jacob Nielsen as protection against his Danish king, who had declared him an outlaw after the murder of King Eric V of Denmark. Jacob had close connections with king Eric II of Norway and as a result got substantial Norwegian assistance with the construction. The fortress, as well as half the county, became Norwegian in 1305.
King Eric's grand daughter, Ingeborg Håkansdotter, inherited the area from her father, King Haakon V of Norway. She and her husband, Eric, Duke of Södermanland, established a semi-independent state out of their Norwegian, Swedish and Danish counties until the death of Erik. They spent considerable time at the fortress. Their son, King Magnus IV of Sweden (Magnus VII of Norway), spent much time at the fortress as well.
The fortress was augmented during the late 16th and early 17th century on order by King Christian IV of Denmark. However, after the Treaty of Brömsebro in 1645 the fortress became Swedish. It was used as a military installation until 1830 and as a prison from the end of the 17th Century until 1931.
It is currently used as a museum and bed and breakfast as well as private accommodation. The moat of the fortress is said to be inhabited by a small lake monster. In August 2006, a couple of witnesses claimed to have seen the monster emerge from the dark water and devour a duck. The creature is described as brown, hairless and with a 40 cm long tail.