Kullen, Kullaberg, Sweden

Kullaberg is the name partly of a ridge, located at the far end of the Kullen peninsula in northwestern Scania, and partly of two nature reserves located on and adjacent to the ridge, Västra Kullaberg and Östra Kullaberg.

The area is part of Brunnby parish in Höganäs municipality. The ridge (and the reserve) stretches from Kullanäs (by the Kullens lighthouse) in the northwest to Arild in the southeast, a distance of just under eight kilometers. Kullaberg is at its widest 1.5 kilometers at Kockenhus and Björkeröd. The area is 932 hectares.

From a bedrock geological point of view, however, Kullaberg stretches down to Svanshall, a distance of a further seven kilometres, and reaches a width of around two kilometres.

Kullaberg borders Öresund in the southwest and Skälderviken in the north. Kullaberg reaches a maximum height of 187.5 meters at Håkull. Towards Skälderviken, the coastal cliffs are particularly high, at most just over 60 metres.

The mountain is crossed by transverse fissures and due to the erosion of the sea, caves, coves and valleys have formed in many places. At the beach you can see rakers and stone pillars.

Kullaberg is one of Scania’s primeval mountain ranges and runs in the same direction as the other ridges in Scania. In Kullaberg’s extension lies Söderåsen and together they form part of the Tornquist zone. The bedrock consists mostly of orthogneiss, which gives poor soils.

However, greenstone passages consisting of amphibolite and diabase, which contain calcium and magnesium, run across the primordial rock. These paths often follow the valley system in the mountain and give rise to more nutritious soil.

Kullaberg’s diabase form is dark red and is called kullaite. It is estimated that the earth’s crust assumed solid form 2.5 billion years ago. In several places, stone has been quarried from the rock. This happened most recently around the turn of the century in 1900, when stone was taken below Barakullen at Solviksbadet, and in the cliff below the Grand Hotel.

Among other things, the current Kullens lighthouse was built from the stone, but some was exported to Denmark for use in fortification and road construction.

The caves are typical of Kullaberg’s shoreline. Most of them are beach caves, which have been formed by the impact of the sea on the softer parts of the rock. Pyk states that there are at least 24 caves with a minimum depth of three meters, of which the most famous are to be described.

The Lahibia cave is located on the south-western part of the mountain, very close to Kullens lighthouse. The current name came into being at the beginning of the 20th century when the photographer Peter P Lundh gave romantic names to several places on the mountain. The cave is nine meters deep and it has been periodically inhabited since the Neolithic.

Visitgrotta is, by volume, Kullaberg’s largest cave. The cave was called Klasa’s stable at the beginning of the 19th century and the Viking cave at the end of the 19th century. The name Visitgrottan was given to the cave at the beginning of the 20th century.

The name comes from the tourists sticking their business cards into the cracks in the walls. The depth and width both 10 meters and the height 6.5 m.

The Maiden’s Chambers is one of the larger caves. It is narrow and tall in shape and is located at Jungfrumalen. Four meters into the cave, it splits into two chambers. Here you can see the Kullaberg typical kullaite, that is, a form of diabase. There are also stalactites, which is otherwise unusual for Kullaberg.

With a depth of 22 meters, Söftingsgrotta is also one of the largest caves, located north of Mölle mosse. The cave is 3–4 meters above sea level. At the entrance, it is 4–5 meters in height and width, but gradually shrinks as you get further

Here is a video from our visit to Kullaberg:

Here is where you can find more information about Kullaberg: https://www.kullabergsnatur.se/

Visit our interesting post about Mölle:

https://travelsandfood.com/molle-by-the-sea-kullaberg-sweden/

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