The story of Häme Castle

Before you stands one of the main sights of southern Finland, a medieval castle that once stood on an island and now sits on the shore of Lake Vanajavesi. Its age is a puzzle. Tradition links it to Birger Jarl's Second Swedish Crusade, which would place it in the mid-13th century, yet no archaeological find here can be firmly dated earlier than the 1320s.

A royal document from 1308 lists only one castle in Häme, and that may have been a fortification at Hakoinen, some 20 kilometres away. Look at the walls: the lower tiers are masoned granite, the upper ones red brick. The keep once had five turrets; only two are apparent today.

The settlements nearby gained city status as Hämeenlinna in 1639. After the Finnish War, under Russian rule, the castle became a prison, and it remained one until 1953, when massive restoration work began. Since 1979 it has been a public museum and a popular venue for events such as Renaissance fairs.