Oulu Castle

Oulu, Finland

Oulu castle ("Uleåborg") was built in 1590 for a stronghold to Swedish soldiers on their way to fight against Russian Karelia. The castle was mostly made of wood and earth walls. There probably was an earlier medieval castle on the same location. The Russian Sophia Chronicle has recorded that men from Novgorod tried to conquer a new castle in the Oulu River delta in 1377 but were unsuccessful. King of Sweden, Charles IX ordered to rebuild the castle in 1605. Old wooden parts were demolished and a new wall was built around the castle island.

Russians burned down wooden parts of the Oulu castle during the Great Northern War in 1715. Final destruction occured in 1793, when thunderstorm set the castle on fire and gunpowder magazine exploded.

Wooden constructions on the remaining powder magazine date from 1875 when the Oulu School of Sea Captains built their observatory on the site. The building has been a cafeteria since 1912 with a small exhibition on the castle history.

Reference: Wikipedia

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Address

Merikoskenkatu, Oulu, Finland
See all sites in Oulu

Details

Founded: 1590
Category: Ruins in Finland
Historical period: Reformation (Finland)

More Information

oulu.ouka.fi
en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Oulu City Hall (0,4 km)
Oulu Cathedral (0,5 km)
Museum of Northern Ostrobothnia (0,4 km)


Turkansaari (13,7 km)
Kempele Old Church (11,2 km)
Kierikki Centre (44,1 km)
Ylikiiminki Church (31 km)
Haukipudas Church (18,9 km)
Iin Hamina (34,5 km)
Temmes Church (38,6 km)

User Reviews

Yanni H (3 years ago)
Hardly a castle.
Michael 1968 (3 years ago)
There's not much left from the casle, built in 1592 for fighting the Karelians. Only the (pretty small) basement still exists. On the basement there is a very nice cafe where you can get all possible kinds of icecream (alas with no cream on it ;-). The cafe is in a sailor' s school, probably From the late 18th Century ; it looks great, like a kind of lighthouse building. It has a very nice "garden" where you can sit down and enjoy the landscape and the food or drinks. The peninsula on which it is, Linnansaari, is very popular among motorcyclists (male as well as female) and there is a sort of "lift" for waterskiing at the edge of Linnansaari. For the "castle" 4/10, for the rest 8/10.
Milena Kostadinova (3 years ago)
Winter time the castle is closed, waiting for the summer..
Konark mehra (3 years ago)
Scenic and picturesque. Great experience to be there.
Sonia Kuismanen (4 years ago)
Really nice old structure. It includes a cafe and book shop. You can enjoy coffee or tea at the top of the tower and see Oulu. Dogs are welcome as well!
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Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

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Glimmingehus

Glimmingehus is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false doors and dead-end corridors, 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, moats, drawbridges and various other forms of death traps to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. The lower part of the castle's stone walls are 2.4 meters (94 inches) thick and the upper part 1.8 meters (71 inches).

Construction was started in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand and stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral. Construction was completed in 1506.

Ulfstand was a councillor, nobleman and admiral serving under John I of Denmark and many objects have been uncovered during archeological excavations that demonstrate the extravagant lifestyle of the knight's family at Glimmingehus up until Ulfstand's death in 1523. Some of the most expensive objects for sale in Europe during this period, such as Venetian glass, painted glass from the Rhine district and Spanish ceramics have been found here. Evidence of the family's wealth can also be seen inside the stone fortress, where everyday comforts for the knight's family included hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses. Although considered comfortable for its period, it has also been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of "Knighthood nostalgia" and not considered opulent or progressive enough even to the knight's contemporaries and especially not to later generations of the Scanian nobility. Glimmingehus is thought to have served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

An order from Charles XI to the administrators of the Swedish dominion of Scania in 1676 to demolish the castle, in order to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the Scanian War, could not be executed. A first attempt, in which 20 Scanian farmers were ordered to assist, proved unsuccessful. An additional force of 130 men were sent to Glimmingehus to execute the order in a second attempt. However, before they could carry out the order, a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad, and the Swedes had to abandon the demolition attempts. Throughout the 18th century the castle was used as deposit for agricultural produce and in 1924 it was donated to the Swedish state. Today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

On site there is a museum, medieval kitchen, shop and restaurant and coffee house. During summer time there are several guided tours daily. In local folklore, the castle is described as haunted by multiple ghosts and the tradition of storytelling inspired by the castle is continued in the summer events at the castle called "Strange stories and terrifying tales".

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