Bat-filled Ruins: Mystery of Sundholmen Castle

Bat-filled Ruins: Mystery of Sundholmen Castle

Step into a medieval ruin, once the 15th-century estate of the Snakenborg family, now home to a colony of bats. Sunk in mystery, Sundholmen Castle, a possible former monastery, lies hidden on an island in lake Tolken and is accessible only by boat.

Sundholmen Castle, a medieval ruin on an island in lake Tolken, has long fascinated visitors. Though the nature of its past remains uncertain, it may have been a monastery in the Middle Ages. By the 15th century, the castle had become the estate of the Snakenborg family. Per Brahe the Elder transformed the small island into a fortified stone house in the 1540s. Gustaf and Magnus Brahe carried out additional modifications. However, the estate was seized by the crown during King Charles XI’s Reduction in the late 17th century. The castle then fell into decay and was burnt to ruins by a lightning strike in 1706. The ruins were restored partially in the early 1990s and can now be reached by boat.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

Written by Nik Frost

Discuss this with the author and others

No comments yet. Be the first to start the conversation.