A castle and several churches have been preserved since medieval times
In
between 1000 A.D. and 1100 A.D., Denmark was the leading Nordic country
and Kurt Lindh, author of the book "Det åländska samhället" (The Åland
society) wrote about researchers that believe that Åland was also a
part of the Danish Baltic Sea domain. But it's possible that the Swedes
got the political power over Åland in the beginning of the 1200's after
the Danish domain had weakened.
Scientists believe that Åland in
the 1000's had somewhere between 2000 and 3000 inhabitants and they
were mainly farmers, fishermen and hunters.
Not very much is
preserved from the medieval times in Åland. The main historic buildings
are the castle of Kastelholm and some stone churches located both on
the main island and in the archipelago.
The castle was built in
a strategic place - on an island near a fairway that also passed the
nearby church of Sund and all the way to the ancient fort in Borgboda
that probably was used as a place of refuge up until early medieval
times.
Also Gustav Vasa
It's unclear how old
the oldest part of the Kastelholm Castle is. It's certain that the
castle was mentioned for the first time in 1388 in an estate inventory
after Marshal Bo Johnsson Grip. Bailiffs and enfeoffments holders that
the Swedish king appointed, reigned over Kastelholm and made sure that
taxes were collected for the Swedish crown. Among the medieval lords of
the castle were Erik Johansson, father of Gustav Vasa. Gustav Vasa
himself spent time in the castle and both his son, duke Johan and his
widow, Katarina Stenbock, had inherited Åland.
In 1634 Åland was
no longer a castle province and was subordinated to the county governor
in Turku. Thereafter the importance of the castle diminished and it was
left to ruin.
The medieval churches were built on the initiative
of the inhabitants and twelve medieval stone churches are preserved.
Archaeologists are presently analysing mortar to be able to exactly
determine the age of the churches, and research so far proves that the
church of Sund is the oldest and built somewhere in between 1250 and
1275. Part of other churches can be older but research about them is
not yet finished.
Åland was emptied
A great
Scandinavian war began in 1700 and in 1714 the Russians occupied Åland.
Almost all of Åland was emptied of its inhabitants who fled to Sweden,
and didn't return until after the peace treaty of Nystad in 1721. Åland
was also partly depopulated in 1741-1743 because of the Russian troops
that once again invaded Åland.