Lillö ruin
once a great fortress in the wetlands at Helgeå west of Kristianstad. The Swedes destroyed the castle after that Skåne became Swedish 1658.

June 5, 2011: On the island Blackan in Helgeå was once a great fortress. A well-chosen place, surrounded by the wetlands at Helgeå and a moat. Today you can see the ruin of it. The first fortress was built perhaps as early as the 1200s. Over the years, it was demolished, burned, destroyed, was built up again. Finally it was demolished after 1658 when Skåne became Swedish, to prevent that the Danish-minded could entrench themselves there and threaten Kristianstad. Gradually hid the nature the ruin in a mound. Linnaeus visited the site on his Scanian trip in 1749, then not much was seen of it. It was excavated around 1940. It has got a roof as protection, not very castle like, and the moat has been restored.

A bridge leads across the moat. The area in front of the ruin is occupied when I get there, a large party breaks up. It is a popular place to have a break at, e.g. when walking the path Linnérundan as I do today. Those who do not want to walk/bike the approximately three kilometers from Kristianstad can take the car past the Lillö royal estate, and park by the bridge over Helgeå western arm.

Normally the ruin is locked, you can borrow a key in the wetlands nature center, but today it's open house. I eat my lunch at the model that shows how the castle looked like before it was demolished. In front of the ruins are the remains of outbuildings. E.g. a remnant of a brick wall. A memorial stone was erected in 1941 after Herluf Trolle, Danish admiral and the member of the council, who was born on Lillö 1516. He is unknown to me.

I get a nice guided tour. The model is made after a painting that was done before the demolition. It was once a magnificent building, five or six storeys high with two towers. Now it's just part of the ground floor left. Bullet holes in the wall reminds about troubled times, a small Swedish troop tried to conquer the castle in 1612 without success. At the eastern end is a well and a drain. Not very hygienic. On the back is a slope with flat stones towards the moat, above was the outlet from toilets. We enter into the building. In one tower sits Arvid with a hook gun in a shooting hole. In the second tower is a small exhibition of artifacts found. A column show that the roof was supported by arches. During the siege, it was convenient to have a well indoors. In one corner was the kitchen. In the middle is a room, there are different opinions as to what it used to. Heat source, dungeon, old entrance .... If these walls could tell. I continue my walk on Linnérundan.

Map

Link:
Kristanstads vattenrike