Carlsten, Marstrand, Sweden

Carlsten is a stone fortress built on the orders of King Carl X of Sweden following the Treaty of Roskilde, 1658 to protect the newly acquired province of Bohuslän from hostile attacks. The site of Marstrand was chosen because of its location and its access to an ice free port. Initially a square stone tower was constructed, but by 1680 it was reconstructed and replaced by a round shaped tower. Successive additions to the fortress were carried out, by the inmates sentenced to hard labour, until 1860 when it was reported finished. The fortress was decommissioned as a permanent defense installation in 1882, but remained in military use until the early 1990s.

The fortress was attacked and sieged twice falling into enemy hands. In 1677 it was conquered by Ulrik Frederick Gyldenløve, the Danish military commander in Norway and in 1719 by the Norwegian Vice-Admiral Tordenskjold. At both occasions the fortress was returned to Swedish control through negotiations and treaties.

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User Reviews

蕭紫均 (2 years ago)
Carlstens Fortress is a famous landmark located on Marstrands island. Due to the limited time (during the break of the conference we participated in Marstrands havshotell), we didn’t have a chance to enter the castle, although the entrance fee is not expensive. But still, I would recommend people to buy tickets and take a views inside. We took the ferry to the island and walked for around 10 minutes to reach the fortress area. We only walked around the fortress and enjoyed the fantastic view here. You can watch Koön island, harbors and beautiful sea views from the highest point behind the fortress, which were so attractive and gorgeous! It is really a good place. ?

Mehdi Mohseni (2 years ago)
Historical castle. I strongly recommend it and when you visit, it is absolutely worth buying a ticket and visiting the inside. Make sure you at least have 3-4 hours.

Jagadeesha C (2 years ago)
Good place for 1 day trip. Just go here and explore castle, Very beautiful view from top.

Endrawan Tan (3 years ago)
Wonderfull and greated work to build fortress on small island. Need more than 200 years to complete this fortress. The behind stories when the use the fort as a jail will make us goosebumps. At the top of fortress, we can have fantastic view of sea, beach and island

MJ (3 years ago)
We were trying to decide if the cost to go inside was worth it, since I think it's a bit of a steep price... But we highly recommend paying to go inside it is well worth it. You can Go into plenty of rooms and up the towers. Really neat experience!!

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