Kastelholm is a delightful spot, tucked under a wooded hillside, with a view of the golfers on the other side of the water and very handily placed for the footpath through the woods to the Castle and the other museums around it.

The rain and wind came through our first night there, but had cleared sufficiently the next morning for us to visit these attractions. The castle has had many incarnations as it burned down several times between 1400 and 1745. Kastelholm was the centre of the Aland Islands in 1400 but over the years was taken over by rebels, plundered by Danish pirates, used as a royal hunting lodge, used to imprison King Eric XIV by his brother, reinforced during The Great Wrath (a period of domination by the Russians in the 1700s) and  used as a granary. It has been heavily restored since the last fire in 1745, with the first attempt at restoration starting in 1891.

Kastelholm Castle – the girls in costume didn’t hang about out here when it started raining again

  They even reconstructed the reconstructions

How many golfers can we hit?

This is where the kitchens used to be

There doorways weren’t extra wide so I guess ladies had to go through sideways

They claimed this room was furnished in a typical 17^h century style (not sure about the floor!)

After the visiting the castle we hurried through the rain, which had started up again, to Vita Bjorn, which was a prison, built in 1783 and in use until 1975. It is the oldest building of its kind preserved in Finland and it was fascinating to see the conditions under which prisoners were kept in different periods. It had been enlarged in 1893 to enable men and women to be kept in separate cells. Our visit there was considerably enhanced by the extremely knowledgeable guide, who spoke excellent English.

Plenty of restraint methods used in the prison and prisoners were tied to the whipping post in view of the rest of the inmates. Women got birched and men caned

  Up to 6 people could be expected to share this bed

This was the style of cell used as recently as 1975; Ted thought the uniform looked a bit like a public school one!

  Later period doors had one way spy holes and an opening for putting food through

    The size of the stove in the wardens quarters reflects how cold it gets in the winter