Castle of Raseborg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Castle of Raseborg (Finnish: Raaseporin linna, Swedish: Raseborgs slott), is a medieval castle in Ekenäs, Finland. The castle was founded by Bo Jonsson Grip and it is thought that the castle was completed sometime between 1373 and 1378 to protect Sweden's interests in southern Finland against the Hanseatic city of Reval (Tallinn). Battles were fought between Swedish and Danish forces and even pirates over control of the castle in the Middle Ages. The castle was abandoned in 1553, three years after Helsingfors (current day Helsinki) was founded in 1550 and became strategically more important. Restoration work began in the 1890s and these days the castle ruins are open to the public.
Close to the castle ruins is one of the largest open-air theatre stages in Finland, the Raseborg Summer Theatre. The theatre was founded in 1966, and gives numerous performances in Swedish every year in July, often with a connection to the castle history.
[edit] External links
- The official homepage of Raseborg Castle ruins and Raseborg Summer Theatre (Swedish/Finnish/English)
- Raseborg Castle at the Finnish National Board of Antiquities
- Photographs of Raseborg Castle at Muuka.com
- Medieval castles in Finland, article at the "Virtual Finland" website of the Finland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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- Mapping from Multimap or GlobalGuide or Google Maps
- Aerial image from TerraServer
- Satellite image from WikiMapia
