The monastery in Varnhem

Go on holiday in your own car and find a cheap hotel stay at Risskov. Especially if the trip is to Varnhem in Vestergøtland, Sweden. Sweden is a great place for a self-drive holiday and has a lot to offer. Visit the monastery in Varnhem, in the western part of Billingen. An idyllic place with fertile farmland, lots of trees, rocks and fresh water from the mountains. Here the Cistercian monks decided to settle and build a small monastery, which flourished for several centuries. In the 1500s, with the Reformation, the monks abandoned their monastery and church. In the 1600s, Magnus Gabriel del la Gardie rebuilt the church and, as a result, it is in good condition today. However, the monastery buildings were left to decay and it was not until the 1920s that excavations began on the old ruins. In the church there is a small museum with pictures and stories of the monastery's heyday. Jan Guillou's fictional character Arn was born and raised in Varnhem, where as a child he was in the service of God at the monastery, and so was able to acquire knowledge of language, philosophy and theology, as well as skills in blacksmithing, health care, agriculture and as a building technician. Go on a summer or winter holiday and enjoy a self-drive holiday with your family, at your own pace to Vestergøtland.