Lieto old castle
Coordinates: 60 ° 29 ′ 11 ″ N , 22 ° 22 ′ 38 ″ E
The Old Castle of Lieto ( Liedon vanhalinna in Finnish ) was a fortified hill in the Finnish municipality of Lieto . The name is used to distinguish it from Turku Castle . The fortifications in Vanhalinna are believed to have been destroyed in the early 14th century when Turku was attacked by Novgorod as part of the German-Swedish-Novgorod Wars .
The south-west Finnish landscape of Varsinais-Suomi was the center of the country for centuries. The Aurajoki River valley was settled when the land rose after the Ice Age . The inhabitants of Lieto later saw the arrival of different peoples. Among them were merchants and looting troops ( Vikings ) and Christian missionaries.
The earliest phase of Vanhalinna is unknown. The hill was probably already inhabited in the Bronze Age, but it was not fortified until the Middle Iron Age (6th - 8th centuries AD). That the fortress during the Viking Age was used in the 11th century, shows a found near burial ground of the Vikings . In the Middle Ages, Vanhalinna was located on the so-called Cattle Road, on which Finnish goods were transported that were destined for Birka and Gotland . At that time, the road connected the castles of Turku and Häme ( Hämeenlinna ), which is about 130 kilometers northeast of Turku. In addition, travelers and pilgrims used the path. Häme was the northernmost branch on the European pilgrimage route that leads to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Today, the archaeological importance of Vanhalinna in Lieto depends not only on the archaeological discoveries - the place belongs to the University of Turku , which has a branch there. There is an archaeological and ethnological museum, which was established in 1956 when Mauno and Ester Wanhalinna donated their collection to the University of Turku.
literature
- Council of Europe Cultural Routes: Follow of the Viking World , Uppsala 1996. ISBN 91-972916-0-9
