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Founded: 1862Category: Castles and fortifications in Sweden
Historical period: Union with Norway and Modernization (Sweden)
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Alnarp Castle was originally built in the 12th century. In 1325 Alnarp came into the possession of a knight named Anders Pedersen, and then Aage Nielsen Ulfeldt in the early 15th century. In 1449, Alnarp passed into the ownership of Niels Stigsen Thott. The Ulfeldt and the Thott families were members of the Scanian nobility. The castle eventually passed to the Krummedige family, and in 1500 it was owned by Erik Krummedige, a cousin of Henrik Krummedige, and an advisor to the Danish king. In 1536, Christian III took possession of the castle for the Danish state.
After the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, king Charles X Gustav of Sweden gave the castle to a commandant of Malmö, Johan von Essen. In 1660, Charles XI gave it to Gabriel Oxenstierna. From 1694, it became the residence for the Governors-General of Sweden in Scania.The present building was erected in 1862, in French Renaissance style. Today the castle houses offices and meeting rooms used by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The castle park has the second highest variety of trees in Sweden and is open to the public all year.
References:The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.
The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick.