Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
website). A new elevator has made this tour more accessible. You can buy a
too-thorough, 45-kr English guidebook, or for the highlights, follow my self-
guided tour.
Self-Guided Tour: Approaching the castle, you'll cross a wooden
drawbridge. Peering into the grassy, filled-in moat, look for sunbathers, who
enjoy soaking up rays while the ramparts protect them from cool winds. To
play “king of the castle,” you can scramble along these outer ramparts (in-
cluded in castle ticket, or open and free when castle interior is closed).
In the central courtyard is the canopied Dolphin Well, a particularly fine
work of Renaissance craftsmanship. If you haven't bought your ticket yet, buy
one in the gift shop on the left. Then follow the well-marked, one-way tour
route.
Near the gift shop, the models and drawings in the Governor's Quarters
illustrate the evolution of the castle over time. Notice the bulky medieval
shape of the towers, before they were capped by fancy Renaissance cupolas;
and the Old Town that once huddled in the not-protective-enough shadow of
the castle. In the adjoining Prisoners' Tower, you can peer down into the
dungeon pit. The room was later converted into a kitchen (notice the big fire-
place), and the pit became a handy place to dump kitchen waste.
Go through the labyrinth of rooms to the right. Historians are renovating
whatusedtobeemptyroomstoshowdailylifeatthecastle. Youmayseeare-
construction of the castle kitchen, a room being “painted” by medieval work-
ers in anticipation of a royal visit, and more. Check out the touch-screen ter-
minals with information about the castle and Kalmar.
Then head back to the entrance at the gift shop and look for a red banner
marked “Codex.” This is the beginning of a stunning exhibit about the Wo-
men's Prison, a grim 19th-century chapter of the castle's history. Modern
black-and-white photographs interpret the prison experience of women incar-
cerated during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Images of women in stocks
or of an accused “witch” undergoing trial by water will stay in your mind long
after the royal rooms fade away.
Then climb the Queen's Staircase, up steps made of Catholic gravestones.
Whilethismighthavesimplybeenaneconomical waytorecyclebuildingma-
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