In between Skara and Skövde you find Varnhem which is a popular destination. The location is part of an ancient cultural area that has been cultivated and inhabited for thousands of years. In the scenic environment around the church and monastery ruins, you can take advantage of a great story. The surrounding area a fairytale meadow flora thrives, and in the garden next to the church, you can find medicinal plants from the medieval times. Close to the monestary church, archeologists have found the ruins from one of Sweden’s oldest churches – built already during the Viking era! The exciting findings that have been made have led to the history of Västergötland being partially rewritten.
Axevalla House or Axevalla Castle is located on a headland in Lake Husgärde east of Axevalla Hed and was a Swedish mediaeval fortress and seat of the kings of Västergötland. In its prime, the place was one of the strongest fortifications in Sweden.
The earliest history of Axevalla hus is steeped in mystery. According to tradition and oral narrative, Inge the Elder, who lived at the end of the 11th century, held court at Axevalla. An inscription in Varnhem Abbey states the following “In that time, Axevalla Castle was the finest royal seat in Västergötland, where King Inge resided.” To call it a stronghold proper is perhaps an exaggeration, but a strongly fortified Royal demesne is probably a fairly accurate description. Axevalla hus may well be the reason why some of our earliest Swedish kings are buried in nearby Varnhem Abbey.
If you are a visiting group, you can book a guided tour with one of our local guides. A tour of Axevalla hus can among other things give you a picture of how a bailiff’s stronghold may have looked, and what Swedish kings and noblemen owned stayed in and lived in the stronghold. You learn about the correspondence between the traitor Ture Turesson and Denmark's King Christian I. There is little doubt that it was Otto Torbjörnsson who led the uprising and destruction of the bailiff’s stronghold. Why did the people revolt against the royal house and set fire to the mighty stronghold? On the guided tour we speak also of how the attack may have taken place.