Hämeen linna - Hämeenlinna, Finland - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

"Originally located on an island, the castle now sits on the coast of lake Vanajavesi. The castle consists of a central keep and surrounding curtain walls, enclosed by a moat. The keep originally had five turrets, but only two are apparent today. The curtain wall has a gatehouse, battlements, an octagonal brick corner turret, and a round gun turret. The lower tiers of the keep and curtain wall are of masoned granite and the upper tiers are red brickwork.

Although the exact date is disputed, the castle is generally considered to have been constructed in the 13th century. In addition to its status as a military fortress and home for Swedish nobility, the castle has seen use as a prison, and is currently a museum operated by the Finnish National Board of Antiquities. The castle is one of the main tourist attractions of southern Finland, being the centerpiece of the city and a popular venue for events, including renaissance fairs.

History

The castle's age is disputed. Traditionally, the construction of the castle has been connected to Birger Jarl's Second Swedish Crusade, which would date the castle in the mid-13th century. However, there are no archeological finds from the castle that can be firmly dated to a period earlier than the 1320s. An earlier fortification from the early 1300s only some 20 kilometres (12 mi) away in Hakoinen also contests Tavastia Castle's age, as only one castle ("Tauestahus") is listed in Tavastia in a royal document from 1308. Also, the Russian Novgorod First Chronicle only mentions one castle during their plundering of Tavastia in 1311, its description also matching with the castle in Hakoinen.

In the mid-1500s, under Gustav I, the castle lost much of its military importance. Some restoration was conducted in the early 1600s, and in 1639, the castle's nearby settlements gained official city status as Hämeenlinna. The castle continued to be neglected by Swedish rule throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, as its military interests shifted to the southern Baltic sea. Tavastia Castle was briefly ceded to the Russian army during the Great Northern War, after which the castle's defensive systems were upgraded with bastions. After the Finnish War, when Finland became the Grand Duchy of Finland under Russian rule, the castle was turned into a prison. It served as such until 1953, when massive restoration work started. The castle has been a public museum since 1979, the facilities of which can also be rented for private events."

// Wikipedia.

Wikipedia Url: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
To post a visit log to this waymark you need to visit and write about the actual physical location. Any pictures you take at the location would be great, as well.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   02/14/2024 E5kimo visited it 04/29/2023 meri98 visited it 01/11/2023 mariko72 visited it 12/18/2022 Rhihad visited it 11/28/2022 Jounit visited it 11/21/2022 kukkaeer visited it 08/17/2022 vilhelmi visited it 08/15/2022 thaikama visited it 08/11/2022 muromar visited it 04/15/2022 Enial visited it 02/28/2022 Toivontai visited it 01/28/2022 okkikari visited it 12/09/2021 seppo54 visited it 10/29/2021 Wilina visited it 10/15/2021 ilkkarjs visited it 09/01/2021 Paulaho visited it 08/12/2021 LaraG visited it 12/15/2020 eskari visited it 10/25/2020 Smurffaaja visited it 08/20/2020 Tiigeri visited it 07/29/2020 lillukka1 visited it 07/16/2020 Mirtti visited it 07/05/2020 ih55 visited it 07/05/2020 Jouni Jurmu visited it 06/28/2020 hiphei visited it

View all visits/logs