From Borgholm to Färjestaden

Borgholm (pop. 11,000), the only town on the island of Öland (municipal charter 1516), is a popular holiday resort. At Tullgatan 22 is Ölands Forngård, a museum of local history. In Strandgatan, on the harbor, is the Kronomagasin, an archaeological museum housed in a building of 1819. Borgholm also has an interesting Motor Museum.

12km/7.5mi east of Borgholm is Egby church, the smallest on the island Öland. In spite of alterations carried out in 1818, when the tower was built, the church has preserved its original Romanesque character. It has a fine font and a stone altar of the 12th century. The Baroque pulpit and reredos date from about 1750.

15km/9mi southeast of Borgholm stands the Romanesque church of Gärdslösa (12th C.), Öland's best-preserved medieval church. The Gothic choir, with wall paintings on Old Testament themes, dates from the end of the 13th century. There are also fragments of 14th century frescoes. The pulpit (1666) is richly painted and there is a beautiful Roccoco altar (1764).

17km/10mi south of Borgholm is Karums Alvar, a large Iron Age cemetery area, with a stone-setting in the shape of a ship, 30m/100ft long, known as Noah's Ark. Nearby are two limestone hills to which Odin is said to have tethered his horse Sleipnir.

23km/14mi southeast of Borgholm is Himmelsberga open-air museum: typical local farms, with old furniture and furnishings; handsome old half-timbering, mostly of oak. Norrgården (1842) has more the air of a manor house, while Karls-Olsgården (late 18th C.) is a modest turf-roofed cottage (wall paintings in parlor).

25km/15.5mi southeast of Borgholm is Lerkaka, with five well-preserved windmills. Nearby can be seen a large runic stone.

27km/17mi south of Borgholm is Ismantorpsborg, the most striking of the refuge forts on Öland, probably dating from the period of the great migrations. It has a diameter of some 125m/400ft, and within its well-preserved ramparts are 88 hut bases. Unusually, it has no fewer than nine entrances, suggesting that it was primarily a cult site.

On the west coast of Öland, opposite Kalmar, lies the little port of Färjestaden. From Möllstorp, to the north of the town, the Öland Bridge (6,070m/6,600yd long, with 153 piers), built in 1972, spans the sound to Kalmar. 500m/550yd from the end of the bridge can be found Öland Djurpark (Zoo).

8km/5mi northeast of Färjestaden is the Gråborg, the largest refuge fort on the island, which was probably constructed during the great migrations and remained in use into the Middle Ages. Its ramparts, up to 6m/20ft high, enclose an elliptical area 220m/240yd long by 165m/180yd across. There are remains of an impressive vaulted gateway. Near the Gråborg are the ruins of St Knut's Chapel (13th C.).