Finland · 13th century
Häme Castle or Tavastia Castle (Finnish: Hämeen linna, Swedish: Tavastehus slott) is a medieval castle in Kanta-Häme, Finland. It is located in Hämeenlinna, the city between Helsinki and Tampere.
Originally located on an island, the castle now sits on the coast of lake Vanajavesi. The castle consists of a central keep and surrounding curtain walls, enclosed by a moat. The keep originally had five turrets, but only two are apparent today. The curtain wall has a gatehouse, battlements, an octagonal brick corner turret, and a round gun turret. The lower tiers of the keep and curtain wall are of masoned granite and the upper tiers are red brickwork.
Although the exact date is disputed, the castle is generally considered to have been constructed in the 13th century. In addition to its status as a military fortress and home for Swedish nobility, the castle has seen use as a prison, and is currently a museum operated by the Finnish National Board of Antiquities. The castle is one of the main tourist attractions of southern Finland, being the centerpiece of the city and a popular venue for events, including Renaissance fairs.
Text adapted from “Häme Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Häme Castle ranks #489 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #4 of the 27 mapped in Finland. Founded c. 1300, it is older than 61% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 8,698 times in the last 60 days, more than 92% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Helsinki, 96 km away. See how Finland compares in the castle statistics.
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