Landskrona Citadel

Landskrona, Sweden

Landskrona Citadel was initially built 1549–1559 as a purely defensive fortification with two complete moats, the inner with a width of 70 metres. The outer (complete) moat is between 40 and 70 metres wide, and has cross fire bastions for artillery and guns. Outside the outer moat, a third narrower moat covers the northwest and northeast. There also exist remains of a fourth moat (between the two outer moats). The fortifications and moats system surrounding the castle is known to be one of Europe's largest and best preserved. In the area between the outer and far outer moat resides the oldest area of allotment-garden cottages of Sweden.

Landskrona was captured in 1644 by forces led by Gustav Horn, but returned to Danish possession the year after. It became Swedish again in 1658 as a result of the Treaty of Roskilde. Between 1667 and 1675, the citadel was expanded with extensive bastions. Thus on 2 August 1676, during a new war between Sweden and Denmark, the commandant Hieronymus Lindeberg surrendered himself and the castle to a Danish army unit. Until peace was restored in 1679, the castle was used as a center of command by the Scanian voluntary army corps ("Friskydter" in Danish-Scanian history, "Snapphanar" in Swedish) which fought together with the regular Danish army against the Swedish occupiers. Lindeberg survived the Danes but were later executed on order of Swedish king Charles IX. In the middle of the 18th century, the local military commander feared (quite suddenly) that the 15th century church Johannes Babtistæ Kyrka ("John the Baptist church"), which at the time was the second largest in Scania, must be destroyed. The reason was a fear for enemy cannons in the church tower. The whole church was demolished and a new one, Sofia Albertina, was built some decades later.

The castle was used as a women's prison from the late 19th century and some decades later. Today the castle is both a kind of museum (guided tours only, but not expensive, daily during the summer) and can be rented for private parties.

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Details

Founded: 1549-1559
Category: Castles and fortifications in Sweden
Historical period: Early Vasa Era (Sweden)

Rating

4.3/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

søren christoffersen (17 months ago)
in the year 1590 it was one of the most modern Fords. that's all, and there isn't really anything to see apart from a park with some art, otherwise the castle is not worth driving for
Martynas Jurkšaitis (18 months ago)
The castle is worth a short walk. We walked arround it, and came to the main yard. It did not managed to keep its original historic buildings, but it was still fun hour spend.
Johan G H (3 years ago)
The citadel itself is really nice and well maintained. It has some really cool history that I enjoyed reading about. Around the citadel are some long walking paths that lead to the beach where you can see some old ww2 dragon's teeth. At this time of year I could also see some Canadian geese that hung out with some swans and seagulls.
Shanmuganathan Sabarisathasivam (3 years ago)
Amazing castle with a lot of walking paths around it. People do fish in the water around the castle. There's also a very nice beach close to the castle!
Nico Baby (3 years ago)
I went on an adventure to Landskrona's Citadel, it's a nice place on a sunny day to go for a walk for everyone. There are many activities and places to enjoy in the area also. There is a cafe inside by the castle. further down the road there is a outdoor training grounds and a skate park by the water tower, you can lay on the sun loungers that is set up facing the ocean where you can enjoy the view of the beautiful view. Furthermore, there are several places where there is a barbecue (grilling) spots with seats. * for parents or people with kids there are a playgrounds for the little ones down by the beach. Right next to the Citadel is Kaptensgården's sculpture park which is beautiful to walk through and there are many sculptures to look at and enjoy. I fully recommend this city and place.
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