Due to its world heritage status, there are many historic military installations on Aspö, inclusive of two museums. The oldest and most famous is the remarkable citadel of Drottningskär established at the East coast in the early 1700’s (Photos 10-13) to defend Karlskrona, especially the approach to the naval port. The burial ground of its garrison is beautifully situated about one km north of the fortress (Photos 14-16). More than 2000 people finally rest here, mainly plague victims. It was handed over to the local community at the beginning of the 1900’s due to being found useless by regular flooding. It was then mainly used for hay-making. However, a few people are still buried here. Besides its military and shipping history, Aspö is also much influenced by its agricultural and fisheries past. The major trace of the former cattle rearing is Scottish highland cattle, which help a lot in keeping the landscape open (Photos 17-18). In addition to the ferry terminal in the North, there is a boating harbour on the East coast by the name of ‘Lökanabben’, which is busy during summertime (Photos 19-20). Aspö has become a popular tourist destination, inter alia due to the ferry to Poland. Tourists mainly come here to bike, for which the island is ideal due to its topography and smallness (approx. 8 km2).
wildlifeaspo.com 