Garpe slott: A royal seat of the kings of Östergötland

Svaneholms borgruin, also known as Garpe slott, is an abandoned castle ruin at Kilarpsjön, Västra Hargs parish, Mjölby municipality, Östergötland. The castle was built on a peninsula in Kilarpesjön. In 1364, a letter was issued from Örebro to the council of the Hanseatic towns stating that they would march through the forest towards Svaneholms slott, followed by Varbergs slott.

The castle was besieged and taken in 1364 by Albrekt of Mecklenburg. It is mentioned as a royal seat during the time Östergötland had separate kings. Another name for the place is Garpe slott, as garpar used to refer to Germans. The castle was built probably in the 1360s and was occupied in 1364 by a German force belonging to Albrekt of Mecklenburg. It likely served no function after 1364 and fell into disrepair.

A seal with a four-part shield was found, which probably belonged to Ivar Nilsson (Ivar Nilssons ätt), a knight and councilor, who may have visited the castle. The castle area is about 120 x 120 meters and consists of remains of a round keep with surrounding walls, a moat, and an outer rampart. The keep is located in the eastern part of the fortification and was built in shell wall construction, with an outer diameter of approximately 18 meters. The moat surrounding the plateau is 10-20 meters wide.

Legends speak of an Östergötland warrior who, while lost, met an old man in a hill cave. The old man told him that he once lived in Östergötland and built a castle on a peninsula in Kilarpsjön (the so-called Garpe slott), but was forced to flee and left his loyal dog enclosed there. The warrior freed the dog but left behind the treasures inside the castle, as the old man warned that the walls would otherwise collapse over him.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons