Gamle Hamn (Fårö)

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View of the former harbor basin
Gamle Hamn burial ground

The Gamle Hamn or Gamla hamn ( German  "Old Harbor" ) and the ruins of the St. Olofs Chapel (locally also S: t Äulas körka ) are located on the island of Fårö, northeast of the Swedish island of Gotland . The former harbor basin and the nearby ruins can be reached via forest paths.

The harbor basin used to be a deep bay. Today it is a 90 m long narrow lake. In the north, the former port access is blocked by beach ridges, which were probably created during severe storms during the 14th century. The eastern part of the harbor basin had a wooden pier where ballast sand containing oyster shells was found . This means that the ballast comes from ports outside the Baltic Sea. In 1938, bricks and ceramic shards made of glazed earthenware, so-called Siegburg stoneware , were discovered that were imported from the Rhineland . The function of the port is uncertain; presumably it was a trading and fishing port.

The foundations of the ruins of the St. Olofs Chapel are located about 100 m south of the harbor. The limestone slabs that are used today to mark the extent of the building were originally the foundation slabs of the small wooden chapel with choir and nave. The chapel is surrounded by a low ring wall, which probably served as the foundation of a fence when delimiting the round cemetery . The graves contain stone coffins that are arranged in an east-west direction (Christian).

On the beach wall west of the harbor, 15 pre-Christian graves stand out as low elevations. None have been investigated, but in shape they are Viking Age . Both the graves and the later chapel with the cemetery are evidently related to the port. It was used from the Vendel period , a period around 350 years before the Viking Age, to the late Middle Ages .

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Commons : Gamle Hamn  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 57 ° 56 '34.57 "  N , 19 ° 5' 25.66"  E