Muskö

Muskö lies directly south of Haninge in the southern archipelago, with Hårsfjärden in the west and the major sea passage, Mysingen, towards the open sea. The Swedish Navy had their naval base headquarters here from the 1500s to 1967. The gigantic naval base, with an area the size of the Old Town in Stockholm, has been blasted out of the rock and faces out towards Hårsfjärden. To simplify communications and logistics to the base, a tunnel between Muskö and the mainland was built in the 1960s. The tunnel is nearly 3 kilometres long and at its deepest point passes 66 metres below sea level. This is a public road.

Muskö consists of several islands. Facing Mysingen is the island of Älvsnabben. On the heights is a monument in the form of an anchor from a ship-of-the-line which can be seen from far out to sea. Today there are about 900 permanent residents on the main island of Muskö. There is also a large area with holiday homes. There are two large country manors on the island; Arbottna, which is owned by the crown and not open to the public, and Ludvigsberg, which is a hotel and conference centre with restaurant and which houses Muskö tourist office.

-The Monument on Älvsnabben can be seen far out to sea. It is in the form of an anchor from a ship-of-the-line.

-Grytholmen's heritage museum includes cottages, a forge, a boat shed and boats and is run by the local heritage association.

-Muskö church was opened in 1630 and rebuilt in 1877. The current interior design was established when it was renovated in 1952. The pulpit and the bell tower date from the 17th century.

-Muskö canal at Mickrum in the middle of the island provides a passage between Hårsfjärden and Fårfjärden out into Mysingen.

How to get there
Muskö has good communications. Take the commuter train (pendeltåg) towards Nynäshamn and get off at Ösmo. From there bus 849 goes to Muskö.

By car: route 73 towards Nynäshamn. Follow signs for Muskö at the Ösmo roundabout. Then you drive through the Muskö tunnel to Muskö.

Accommodation
Ludvigsbergs herrgård 

Eat
Ludvigsbergs herrgård
Luddes gårdscafé
Muskö sjökrog (inn) at Mickrum's pier with restaurant and shop.

Shopping
Grocery store at Herrstugan on northern Muskö is an agent for apoteket (pharmacy) and systembolaget (off-licence).
Marine petrol station at Mickrum's pier

Natural Harbours
Grytholmen
Hyttan
Köpingen

Nature
Muskö countryside is beautiful and very suited for walking. There is wide-open pastureland and meadows along the coast. Towards the open sea and Mysingen, there are high cliffs. Inland you can find many flowers like elder-flowered orchids, catsfoot, lesser dandelions, common rockrose, woundwort and maiden pink and in the autumn there are plenty of wild mushrooms. The soil is fertile and the local islanders have farmed here through the ages. There are traces of the ancient meadows with open birch woodland filled with the scent of cowslips and the fields are kept open by grazing livestock.

There is rich bird life including quail, corncrakes, nightingales and tawny owls in addition to all the sea birds. The many elk on the island mean that it is an excellent place to go on an "elk safari".

History
The oldest traces of settlements on the island date from the 7^th-8^th centuries. The island was originally two separate islands with the main island to the west called Muskö and the one to the east called Sånö. The actual name, Muskö, was used as early as the 13^th century and according to one theory is related to darkness (mörker in Swedish) because of the woodland and high rocky outcrops that shade the island similarly to Mörkö (dark island) in the archipelago outside Södertälje.

The navy base has coloured the island's history since it was established in the 16^th century. The monument on Älvsnabben island is one of the most well-known in the archipelago. It was raised to mark the 300th anniversary of the departure of the Swedish Army led by Gustav II Adolf in 1630.

The Russians ravaged the island in 1719 in common with the rest of the archipelago however they were besieged by the Swedish Navy and therefore dug the Muskö canal in order to escape.

The canal was, of course, greatly appreciated by the local fishermen once the Russians had finally gone and it can be considered as a kind of war reparations. The furniture trader, Levin, built the two country manors, Arbottna and Ludvigsberg towards the end of the 18^th century. There was a naval accident on nearby Märsgarn in 1941 when three destroyers exploded and sank and 33 men died. The cause was either a torpedo accidentally dropped from a plane during training manoeuvres over the base or sabotage. The military tribunal concluded that it was likely that it was an intentional attack whose perpetrators could not be found.

The blasting operation to build the enclosed base began in the 1950s. The road tunnel was opened in 1964 and at the time it was the longest in Sweden.

The area around Hårsfjärden was catapulted into notoriety in the 1980swhen the Swedish coastal defences chased submarines violating Swedish waters in front of news cameras from all around the world.

General
Muskö Tourist Office, tel: +46 (0)8-500 454 10
http://www.musko.se/

Visit Skärgården
e-mail: info@visitskargarden.se
Tel: +46 (0)8-100 222