I love visiting historical remains. Especially on my home island, Gotland. Buildings, image stones and traditional, typical, ship graves. It even goes so far that I considered ditching videography and photography to become an archaeologist. Hence, my natural interest in photographing these spots.
This is Stora Hästnäs, one of the oldest (remaining) stone-houses of Gotland’s farmland. It stands where former St* Clemens County used to be, but is today known as Hästnäs, about twenty minutes from Visby.
Further below is a little video that I spontaneously shot together with Remy, where we walk through the top floor, all the way to the basement. And of course, picture-bombing! Historical houses are too fun and fascinating, as I love to imagine the life that has taken place.
We also met the owner of the estate… Or what we first thought was a ghost making noise… An adorable cat begging for pats!
The house was either built in the early 14th century or late 12th century, however, the land had been used long before and is still used today. This means that it is standing on private ground, with a modern, private house next to it. However, it is allowed to visit it, as it is a part of cultural heritage, as long as one shows courtesy to the property owners. There is parking available in front of the house, together with an information board, with illustrations showing what the house most likely used to look like, as it currently is only one of three parts left.
If you want to read more about Hästnäs, I’d recommend Det medeltida Gotland : en arkeologisk guidebook, by Ander Andrén, which showcases archaeologically interesting spots on Gotland as a tourist-guide type of book. The book is however in Swedish. You can also check out Gotland county administrative bords page about the remaining.
