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All Sweden Borgholm N Neptuni Åkrar
AO Edited

Neptuni Åkrar

An otherworldly, fossil-rich cobble beach holds Viking graves, cairns, and other remains.

Borgholm N, Sweden

Added By
Malin Pettersson
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The limestone landscape.   Goran Strandsten / Alamy
Neptuni Åkrar   David Castor/public domain
  David Castor/public domain
  webbgun/cc by 2.0
  Kullez/cc by 2.0
The beach looking north.   Olndskan / Atlas Obscura User
The beach looking toward mainland Sweden.   Olndskan / Atlas Obscura User
View of the island of Blåkulla (the Blue Maiden) from the beach.   Olndskan / Atlas Obscura User
Road sign announcing the area when arriving from the north.   Olndskan / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Along the northwest coast of the island of Öland lies Neptuni Åkrar, Swedish for "Neptune's Fields," a vast shingle beach dotted with unusual limestone rock formations and abutting a Viking-era burial ground.

The pebbles of Neptuni Åkrar were created as a result of stones left behind during the last ice age, which eroded down to their present shape by the waves over the centuries. During summer, the otherwise barren and colorless coast transforms into a sea of brilliant blue, as the viper's bugloss, or blueweed, flowers bloom.

The area was named by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1741 in honor of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. Today the beautiful alien landscape is a nature reserve featuring several ancient monuments, most notably, the sprawling grave field on the southern border of the reserve.

This ancient burial ground is filled with various cists and cairns, Viking-era graves, stone circles, and a Bronze Age ship-shaped burial mound called the Forgalla Skepp (Forgalla Ship). The beach is also rich with fossils, including numerous trilobite and brachiopod fossils.

Related Tags

Martian Landscapes Beaches Glaciers Rock Formations Rocks Vikings Graveyards Tombs Ancient Flowers Landscapes Geology Nature Nature Preserves Fossils Cemeteries Ecosystems

Know Before You Go

Neptuni Åkrar is on the coast and therefore likely to be windy. It is also a nature reserve so visitors should respect the area and not litter or take home rocks as souvenirs. It's best to visit in June if you want to see the blueweed blossoms. The pin points to the viking graves at the southern end of Neptuni Åkrar.

Community Contributors

Added By

Olndskan

Edited By

hrnick, Meg

  • hrnick
  • Meg

Published

April 23, 2019

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Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune%27s_fields
  • https://alltpaoland.com/platser/neptuniakrar/
Neptuni Åkrar
92 Neptunivägen
Byxelkrok
Borgholm N, 387 75
Sweden
57.342969, 17.02136
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