Gråborg

Öland's largest ancient castle

Gråborg, or Backa borg as it was called in the Middle Ages, is not only Öland's largest ring fortress, but one of Sweden's largest. The castle is beautifully situated in the Mittland Forest, next to the small village of Borgs by. Gråborg was built as a defense facility during the troubled Migration Period, when all of Europe was shaken by the collapse of the Roman Empire in the late 400s. In the 12th century, Gråborg began to be used as a peaceful international trading post. Almost all medieval finds from Gråborg indicate a peaceful trading activity and the military finds are relatively few. The castle was used until 1677 in the war against the Danes.

To the northwest is a gate with an archway, which was built in the 13th century, when the adjacent St Knut's chapel was also built. The gate used to have a tower floor with a bulkhead door, just like the one to the south-east. Given its size and location in the middle of Öland, one can suspect that this was Öland's real center of power during the Iron Age.