Tjelvar bicycle trail

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helenemw

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Trail stats

Distance: 25.79 mi
Elevation gain: 226 ft
Technical difficulty: Moderate
Elevation loss: 226 ft
Max elevation: 154 ft
TrailRank: 38
Min elevation: 154 ft
Trail type: Loop

Moving time: 3 hours 14 minutes
Time: 4 hours 19 minutes
Coordinates: 5052
Uploaded: August 17, 2019
Recorded: August 2019

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near Tjälder, Gotland (Ruoŧŧa)

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Itinerary description

Tjelvar bicycle trail

Waypoints

Tjelvars grave

The start of the trail is at a prominent visitors site called Tjevars grave. This is a Stone Ship Setting from the Bronze Age (c. 3000 years old). The trail has been created within the Tjelvar project https://www.tjelvargotland.se/ with support from Gotlandsfonden, Gotland Museum). According to the mythology of Gotland (Guta Saga), Tjelvar was the first person who colonized the Island. Before he came the Island sank in the sea during the day and just came up at night but by bringing the fire to the Island he broke the spell and the Island stayed up also during the day and could be populated by Tjelvar and his son Havde who married White Star and they got three sons, Gute, Gunfjun and Grejper. However, the earliest colonization of Gotland occurred almost 9000 years ago so what has been called the Grave of Tjelvar is not the earliest remain on the Island. Stone Ship Settings is a form of graves and ritual place that on Gotland is dated to Late Bronze Age. Usually, they have cremation burials placed in a ceramic vessel that looks like a small house with a lid on top. Around 400 remains of this type is found on Gotland and a few on Åland Island and the Baltic Stated. Stone ship settings are found in other parts of mainland Sweden but then they date to the Iron Age which is more than a thousand years younger. The Tjelvar project has done an A 3D model of the site. It is found at https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/tjelvars-grav-gotland-95751d143d924d0493782b4919c9dc62.

Blautmörskogen Nature Reserv

In this Nature Reserve, you can experience various types of forest biotopes. In the area is a drained wetland area that now is regenerating and the area has a high species diversity. This is more like a natural forest area since there has been little management of these forests for a long time with dead trees that are great habitats for various species of insects.

Alvena Meadow Nature Reserve and Iron Age Settlement

This area is owned by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. The area houses an Iron Age village (Långbyn) that is situated in typical Gotlandic meadow that is managed by using traditional methods. There is a walking track and here you can see a variety of different flowers and among them several types of orchids during the spring and summer.

Vallstena mediaval church and copy of Picture Stone

The oldest part of the church was as many other rural medieval churches on Gotland built in the late 13th century in a Romanesque style and was later refurbished and added on in a Gothic style. It was decorated by church frescos in the 15th century. The cemetery is surrounded by a wall and has three lychgates of which one is from the 13th century and display original sculptural details. Outside the church, you find a picknick area with benches. A copy of a picture stone for the 5th century that was found at an Iron Age grave field close by is erected at the picnic area.

Memory Monument

This monolith is erected to the memory of Captain Göran Carl von Löwenadler (1776-1826) who was a Royal Gotland National Conscript 1815-1826. In and around this area was a training ground for the military.

Grönhaug Bronze Age mound

This is one of the few Bronze Age Burial Mounds on Gotland that has been covered by a grass turf. This area has been a prominent ritual area for several thousands of years. Several archaeological excavations have been carried out and prominent monuments taken away since the area have been used as a quarry and gravel pit in the 1960-80s. Grönhaug is the only remaining archaeological site in this area.

Bara church medieval ruin

Bara church was build in the 13th century but was abandoned already in 1588. Bara parish merged with Hörsne parish and the church was left to decay. Today this ruin is a popular place to get married and have concerts in the summer.

Bara hilltop with Bronze Age cairn

This is a raised limestone cliff which has been an island in a bay area during the Stone Age around 6000 years ago. This site has a Bronze Age Carin on top, which is an over 3000-year-old grave but it is likely that it has been looted, There are also smaller stone setting graves on the summit. The summit is in some places also re-inforced with a low stone rampart and the place could have served as a sheltered ritual site or as as a fortification and lookout. There is a legend that says that there was been a secret passage from the cairn to Bara ruin church.

Norrby's skinn craft shop

Gotland is known for its many sheep farms and here they for example sell lambskins

Festplats with picknick table

This is a community ground of Bara that has pick nic tables.

Lina mire veiwpoint

Lina mire or wetland area was the last large wetland that was drained and ditched on Gotlandto create more farmland (1950-60s). The Tjelvar project has done extensive research of this area which has shown that when the first people populated Gotland around 9000 years ago was this area a big bay and later it was grounded up by the shore line displacment but still served as an important inner waterway, with a shallow lake and meaning river just up historical times. The area has been very important for harvesting grass and reed and for fishing, transporting and held water for the livestock. There are large environmental issues as in the wake of the draining processes of wetlands in connection to groundwater and over fertilisation of the Baltic Sea. Today there is a need to resort wetlands on Gotland.

Mattsarve meadow and Iron Age settlement

This is a traditional Gotlandic meadow that is own by the Swedish Society of Natural Conservation. It is grassed by sheep and managed according to traditional methods. There are several Iron Age stone foundation houses here.

Hörsne medieval church

This church was first starting to be built in the 12th century but was changed and added on in the 13th century. The church has two nicely sculptured portals that are the work of Master Egypticu, a local stone craftsman. The church was restored in the 1930s.

Hörsne river and walk

The Hörsne river runs eastward and towards the Gothemriver that has its outlet at Åminne/Vitviken. Here in Hörsne is a small waterfall and the stretch from the church and a couple of hundred meters towards the east the river flow natural and further down the cause of the river have been changed due to the draining of Lina wetland.

Line mire gravefield

High above the ditched and drained Lina wetland is the Iron Age grave field. Here you have a good view of the former wetland area.

Västerbjers Stone Age site

Today you only see some fields here but this is one of the iconic Stone Age sites of Gotland. This area was excavated in the 1940s and some of the finds you can see in Gotlands museum. Several graves have been excavated here and they belong to the so-called Pitted ware culture. They were unusually well preserved since Gotland have a limestone bedrock.

Gothem mediaval church

At this waypoint, you can see Gotlhem church from afar but you can choose to take the route to the east and visit the church and two restaurants close to the church. The first church here was probably a wooden church that was replaced by a romanesque church in the 13th-14th centuries. Close to the church is the ruin of a 12th-century defense tower. The church bell is from 1374 and in this church the old tradition of using stones to ring the church bell at certain locations!

Botvalde farm shop

Here you can turn off from the trail and visit Botvalde farm where you can buy organic meat and sausages.

Candle factory

Ljusmakeriet is a candle factory http://ljusmakeriet.se/ (in Swedish).

Gothemshammar rampart

At waypoint, you can turn off towards the east and visit the enigmatic 500-meter long rampart called Gothemshammar. Today it is in the forest but when it was built around 3000 years ago it was delimiting a headland on a small island at the inlet of the important waterway to the Lina wetland and river area. You can see a model and reconstruction of the landscape changes in this area from that time and until today. https://youtu.be/3llp1bTVBOo

Gothem river

The Gothem river has its outlet at Åminne. Today Åminne is a fantastic beach and recreation area with camping grounds. From the bridge and several hundred meters upstream it is a nice walking track where you walk by the river and its natural meandering flow. The track ends up close to the Candle factory. This river was once an important in- and outlet to an internal water system/way on Gotland island.

Majsterrojr Bronze Age Burial Cairn and Honey shop

Here you can turn off the trail and visit the imposing Bronze Age Burial Cairn called Majsterrojr. This is a 3500-year-old burial cairn surrounded by a stone ship setting and other smaller graves. There are around 1000 known burial cairns on Gotland but this is among the five largest on the island. The area has many remains from the Bronze Age time like Gothemshammar rampart and Tjelvar's grave. This show that powerfull chiefs lived and ruled this area and it is very likely that the area has been an important hub for the Bronze trade with connections to the interior of Gotland through the internal waterway and network contacts to the East outside of Gotland. Today you also find a honey shop here on the way to the archaeological site.

Åminne Camping

Here you find a camping ground where you also can rent small cottages at the fantastic beach at Åminne. Besides beach life, the trout fishing is really good in this area. At the site is also a restaurant. The camping is not open in the winter.

Vitviken's camping, beach and café

Here is Vitviken's camping ground with café and lovely Åminne beach. Here you can also buy local products at Gothem's handelshus. http://www.vitviken.se/

Visitor's site Tjelvar's Grave

You are now closing in the start of this trail at Tjelvar's grave. On the two km long unsealed road you pass an area with a protected forest and two raised limestone cliffs that are archaeological sites.

Tjelvar's lookout, Hunting site, fortification and ritual site

This is the last stop on the Tjelvar trail and archaeological excavations by Uppsala University, Campus Gotland on top of and surrounding this limestone cliff in 2018 have reviled a long story of human utilization of this place. Archaeological finds on top of the cliff show that it was used as a hunting site for seals and sea birds, maybe during the first colonization of the Island around 8000-9000 years ago. The water level of the Baltic sea was at that time around were the sign is standing today. Due to the new evidence, the current text on the sign is not up to date. Later on in a time when Tjelvar's grave the Stone Sip Setting that is the start and end of this trail were built during the late Bronze Age around 3000 years ago this cliff was probably used as a ritual site. The bay area had now due to the shoreline displacement grounded up to form a river mouth to the important wetland area Lina myr. Cremation burials and offerings of animals have been placed at the big limestone rock just next to the trail to go up to the top of the cliff, On the east side of the cliff is a limestone stone stack that looks like a small Amphy theater. Here is an interesting soundscape. Stand there and talk and you can hear it very well on top of the cliff. later on in time during the Early Iron Age around 2000 years ago this area was probably used as fortified sites and some low stone ramparts were constructed around parts of the cliff. The cliff is called Killingborgen which means "The Kid Fortification".

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