Vårfruberga Abbey

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Vårfruberga Abbey, previously Fogdö Abbey was a Cistercian monastery of nuns from the 12th century until 1527, situated 1 mile north-west of Strängnäs on the Fogdö peninsula in Lake Mälaren, formerly a parish, in Södermanland, Sweden.HistoryFogdö AbbeyIn the 12th century a house of Benedictine nuns was established here, but its exact location is obscure. 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. This would explain why they moved to what is now Fogdö church, where the monastery was located from 1233. The church was used both as a parish church and as a monastic one, as is testified by an inset opening in the south wall - a so-called "nun's window" ("nunneporten"). The quire was also widened so as better to accommodate the nuns' choral liturgy. Judging from the surviving walls, the services of a builder trained in the Cistercian style were obtained for the project.In 1252 the abbey was sent a letter offering protection from, and sealed by, Birger Jarl and his son Valdemar, which is still preserved in the Riksarkivet.