Näs Castle Ruins, Visingsö, Sweden

In the 12th and 13th century, Näs (or Visingö) Castle on the southern end of Visingsö was the residence for the fragile Swedish monarchy. It was built probably by Sverker I of Sweden (died in 1156) or his son Charles VII of Sweden (Karl Sverkersson). Näs was thereby the oldest Royal castle in Sweden. It was a residence 5-6 kings before in 1318 Birger I (Birger Magnusson) pawned it to Danish. The castle was probably demolished soon after.

References:

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User Reviews

Yang Liu (2 months ago)
Beautiful cliff view

Manoj Prabahar J T (2 months ago)
Very nice place to visit. Seeing ocean like lake from the the castle feels so wonderful. A place to visit.

Alice Serban (4 months ago)
A lovely dramatic piece of history, sadly it will slowly crumble into the lake

Llums d'Hivern (5 months ago)
Worth the trip, especially if you’re biking from the harbour during a daytrip to the island

Hamed Razzaghi (6 months ago)
Näs Castle is a castle ruin on the southern tip of Visingsö in Visingsö parish in Jönköping municipality. The village Näs in the vicinity has given the castle its name, in medieval sources it is called Visingsö or Visingsö hus. The facility was built as a royal residence during the 12th century. Possible builders were Sverker the Elder and his son Karl Sverkersson. The castle marks a transition to larger and more comfortable castle buildings and is the first of its kind. Most medieval sources agree that the castle, especially in the early 13th century, was at the center of the Swedish monarchy. This was Sweden's first national castle and was also used as a national bank, when the kings collected their and the kingdom's treasures in the castle. In 1318 it was pledged by King Birger Magnusson to the Danes. The castle was burned down after some fighting the same year while Birger was in exile.

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Broch of Gurness

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. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.

The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.

The site is surrounded by three ditches cut out of the rock with stone ramparts, encircling an area of around 45 metres diameter. The remains of numerous small stone dwellings with small yards and sheds can be found between the inner ditch and the tower. These were built after the tower, but were a part of the settlement's initial conception. A 'main street' connects the outer entrance to the broch. The settlement is the best-preserved of all broch villages.

Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.

At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.

In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.

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