Fleringe: Limestone Quarries, Nature and Gotlandic Music

Fleringe on Gotland combines a landscape shaped by limestone with vivid evidence of the region’s working, building and musical history. If you choose a destination based on nature experiences and cultural insights, you will find both here in clearly distinct places: in the Bästeträsk Nature Reserve, in the limestone industry area of Bläse and at Groddagården.

Limestone Quarry and Wilderness in the Bästeträsk Area

The Blå lagunen limestone quarry is located in the Bästeträsk Nature Reserve. Its clear blue water gave the quarry its name; stone has been quarried in this area for centuries. The nature reserve includes the 665-hectare Lake Bästeträsk as well as more than 800 hectares of surrounding forests, marshes, alvar landscapes and pebble beaches. As a result, the landscape can be experienced not only by the water, but also through the different natural environments around the lake.

In the Bästeträsk Nature Reserve, you can experience characteristic Gotlandic wilderness with white-tailed eagles and golden eagles. For your travel planning, this part of Fleringe therefore represents a nature experience in which the lake, open alvar landscapes, forests, marshes and pebble beaches belong together.

Bläse and the History of the Limestone Industry

In Bläse, Stentåget offers a historic return journey by locomotive and stone wagons to the old quarry, which has since filled with water. The journey takes about 40 minutes, and the route is 1.7 km long. The Kalkbruksmuseet in Bläse in Fleringe presents Gotland’s stone industry and provides insight into the lives and working conditions of the workers. Limestone burning began at Bläse Kalkbruk in the 1860s and ended in 1946.

This makes it possible to explore both the former quarry and the history of the people and the work. The train journey and the museum focus on different aspects: Stentåget takes you to the old quarry, while the Kalkbruksmuseet explains the stone industry and its working environment.

Groddagården and Fleringe’s Musical History

The well-preserved Groddagården offers insight into Gotland’s architectural history as well as a chapter in its personal and musical history. Groddagården is associated with a hurdy-gurdy regarded as Sweden’s best-preserved instrument of its kind. At Groddagården, Grodd-Jaken and his brothers often gathered all the folk musicians from northern Gotland to play music together.

It has a violin-shaped body influenced by German tradition. The Groddaliran, played by the musicians at Groddagården in Fleringe, may have been made in Sweden. A 3D model allows it to be explored up close. In this way, the digital presentation supplements the instrument’s transmitted history without separating the preserved objects from the site.

The historic setting also includes Fleringe Church. The surviving church stables, church gate and churchyard wall form, together with the church, a unique church setting on Gotland. Groddagården and the church therefore represent two different approaches to cultural history: here, domestic and musical life; there, the preserved built environment.

Other Places to Compare

If you would like to compare Fleringe with other places in the same broader region, you can choose Slite, Sanda, Lau, Lärbro, Katthammarsvik, Lojsta, Lummelunda and Väte.

For the broader travel overview: Gotland.