Sweden Defends Northern Border Against Norwegian Attack

Such was the fate in the 16th century of Sweden's largest and strongest fortress. Repair and restoration work that began in 1898 will take over one hundred years to complete. To walk through the fortress today is to step back in time; a time when kings ruled, when high walls surrounded palaces and deep dungeons housed prisoners of war.

Bohus Fortress stands towering over the town of Kungalv in Sweden. For over 700 years these colossal walls of brick and granite have overlooked the land where once Norway and Sweden joined. Bohus was originally built in 1308 as a central defense point on Norway's southern border. After the treaty of Roskilde in 1658, Bohus fell under Swedish rule.

We stopped our van at the base of the hill and looked up the stone walkway leading to the fortress. From the outside the structure appeared immense; but once we stepped through the main entrance our original perception seemed small. High stone walls stretched in all directions. Within them stood an endless number of rooms, tunnels, and stockades. Vaults, wells, underground shafts, passageways and courtyards were at every turn. The remains of a warehouse; stables; granary; general artillery store; brewery and bakery, with its large baking oven and fireplace, could still be seen. It is said that in the bakery, five barrels of flour could be made into bread in one day and in the brewery 16 barrels of malt could be brewed in one brew.

The emmense size of the fortress kept impressing us. It held barracks, a gunpowder laboratory, and sauna. In the far corner is a pond, believed to have once been used as a fish hatchery. And in the central courtyard there once stood a church with a three-story building at its entrance. Staircases within it led to vaulted galleries at the top.

From the walkway atop the inner wall we looked down into the remains of one of the towers. Far on the other side of the fortress we could see the widest tower, Rode Torn. It stood no more than three stories high. Rode Torn, which was converted to a mill in 1615, played an important role in early defense. During a hard siege in 1566 it was captured by Swedish troops. But it was saved from their hold by a brave defenders who crawled into its basement and setting fire to the powder magazine.

"Fars Hatt" is the most noticeable of the towers. It is this tower which gives the fortress it's characteristic silhouette. It still stands at its original height, four stories, and contains an attic and a basement. The dreaded dungeon in the basement (6 meters deep and totally lacking daylight) is all that reamins of it's original square shape. Today it is round with a spiral staircase along the inside wall linking the floors. John climbed all the way to the top, but I was a bit nervous on the narrow steps. Floor two was as high as I went and I leaned against the staircase stone pillar all the way back down.

Past Fars Hatt we continued along the outer wall. All along it we had views of the Renaissance grounds below. The wall we were on wasn't part of the original structure. It was added in the 16th century when Bohus was rebuilt as a Renaissance palace. Many of the vast changes made to the structure at that time were carried out by convicts, solders and farmers. The large well in the courtyard, for example, which was forced down 22 meters through solid rock by alternately heating it with fire and cooling it with water. It took 10 to 15 life-time prisoners 13 years to complete.

After circling the fortress we arrived back at the main entrance. I looked at the system of walls there and tried to imagine what it must have looked like with a drawbridge. I wondered what it must have been like to live in a time when unwanted visitors were scalded with boiling water or stoned to death from the top of massive walls. Before passing through the outer wall, we noticed a cracked cannon ball laying on the ground. A difficult time to have lived indeed.