Långholmen

This guide to Langholmen in Stockholm traces how a bare rock islet was built up by nineteenth-century prisoners hauling dredged lake mud onto the stone, load after load. It follows what turned up in that mud, stray seeds carried in on merchant ships from across Europe, and how they quietly took root alongside the willow and birch. You'll hear how a prison island turned into an unplanned garden. Best explored along the shoreline coves where Stockholmers still swim in summer.