Lojsta Castle: A Medieval Defensive Fortress on Gotland
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Sweden
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Unclassified
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page6 sections
History
Lojsta Castle is a medieval defensive installation in Sweden, situated on the island of Gotland in Stånga socken, a historical Swedish parish and local administrative district. Rather than a palatial manor, it was a fortified estate whose houses were protected by defensive works. The fortress stood on an island in one of the small Lojsta Lakes and is believed to have been used by the Vitalians, medieval pirates who operated in the Baltic Sea and used Gotland as a base.
The Vitalian stronghold
The Vitalians supported Albert of Mecklenburg, the medieval king of Sweden, after he was captured during political conflict. Their control of Lojsta Castle formed part of their wider presence on Gotland, where they held three strongholds. In 1404, the Teutonic Knights, a Catholic military order that campaigned around the Baltic Sea, defeated the Vitalians and forced them to relinquish Lojsta Castle and their two other Gotland fortresses.
Archaeology and reconstruction
Archaeologists surveyed the fortress area in the early twentieth century, although some of their interpretations have since been questioned, particularly those concerning three supposed house foundations. About 150 metres northeast of the fortress, John Nihlén excavated the foundation of Lojsta Hall in 1929. The few finds indicated habitation during the Migration Period, the era from roughly the later fourth to the sixth centuries associated with major population movements and political change. A reconstruction was erected in 1932 to present a possible Iron Age appearance of the building.
Remains
Lojsta Castle lies between the Slottsträsk and Broträsk lakes. The larger lake that once surrounded the fortress has been divided into three smaller lakes, and its present water surface is about 2.5 metres lower than it was during the Middle Ages. The surviving defensive layout centred on an island courtyard separated from the surrounding area by a dug moat, an embankment, and a palisade.
The island fortress
The moat is approximately 100 metres long, between 3 and 10 metres wide, and up to 1.7 metres deep. A drawbridge connected the island stronghold with the mainland, and parts of the bridge remain visible. The fortress can now be reached by land. Its buildings were probably wooden structures measuring about 20 to 30 metres by 10 metres, while the three proposed house foundations remain archaeologically uncertain.
Lojsta Hall
Lojsta Hall occupies the surviving foundation of an Iron Age house measuring 30 by 16 metres. Parts of two log boats were found within the foundation remains. The reconstructed hall represents a building where people and animals probably lived together. Its inhabitants raised livestock, and trade also contributed to their livelihood. The roof is covered with saw-sedge, a plant widespread in Gotland’s mires.
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