Vårfruberga Abbey

Excavations in 1991–92 revealed that a medieval fortification had been built on an elevation near the water, and it is possible that the nuns were displaced from their original place of settlement on this strategic site to make room for the fort.

Judging from the surviving walls, the services of a builder trained in the Cistercian style were obtained for the project.

In 1252 a letter was sent to the abbey offering protection from, and sealed by, Birger Jarl and his son Valdemar, which is still preserved in the Riksarkivet.

[1] After 50 years the nuns moved again to the present Kungsberg (3 km east of Fogdö), where they were able to have built a full monastic complex in accordance with the Cistercian principles of monastery construction and layout.

At the same time the name of the community was changed to Vårfruberga ("Mountain of Our Lady"), and was formally accepted into the Cistercian order, as a daughter house of Julita Abbey.