Approximately 0.5 km in length, Lemmenpolku Path is a natural path following the old roadbed and leading from the Raseborg Castle Ruins to the village church of Snappertuna. The path runs through a grazed pasture, and provides an impressive glimpse into the heritage landscape surrounding the castle.

Lemmenpolku Path was formed in the 1960s when local biology teacher Einar Öhman, who was interested in history and built cultural environment, wanted to create a direct path to the castle ruins from the visitors’ lodge established in the village. He started calling the path Lemmenpolku, as in spring time, you can hear the mating calls of love-sick birds filling the air along the path.

The path runs through an area called Galbacken or Teilimäki. Teili refers to a pole where a person sentenced to death through breaking wheel execution was tied. Based on the name and historical data, it is regarded as a fact that ancient hanging gallows were located on the hill, but their exact location is not known. Starting from the castle, the path first passes a summer theatre and a neighbouring rock meadow, arriving at an old croft. Meadow species grow in abundance in the croft’s surroundings, such as the peach-leaved bellflower (*Campanula persicifolia*), pyramidal bugle (*Ajuga pyramidalis*), brown knapweed (*Centaurea jacea*) and perforate St John's-wort (*Hypericum perforatum*), and the increasingly less common grasses, such as matgrass (*Nardus stricta*), spiked sedge (*Carex spicata*) and heath grass (*Danthonia decumbens*). The route continues zigzagging through a sheep pasture. On the eastern side of the path, there is an ungrazed heath forest and the western side consists of forest pastures. In summer evenings, the intoxicating smell of lesser butterfly-orchids (*Platanthera bifolia*) fills the air.

From the bridge across the stream, you can take a look at the birch paddock spreading along the shore. Its traditional name in Swedish, “skogsbryn”, means “edge forest”. A strip of forest used to frame the croft yard and the nearby pastures, and protect them from strong winds. The forest was grazed occasionally, but in terms of its vegetation, it continued to resemble a forest rather than a meadow, and the residents used to collect fire wood, berries and mushrooms there. The strips of forest framing the pastures are diverse and rich environments in terms of their species. Among other species, great numbers of various insects thrive in their sheltered environment, luring bats to the area, as well as deer (*Capreolinae*) and the European hare (*Lepus europaeus*).

The Lovers´Path of Raseborg Castle