In 1719 the Russians came to Stockholm archipelago. Utö was hit very hard because of its outer position in the sea and important mining activities. The Russians burnt down the houses, slaughtered the cattle, and destroyed the mines. There are still some signs of their presence on the island. The so-called ”Russian Ovens” are primitive stone ovens which the Russian soldiers used for cooking and baking bread. They were between 1.5 and 4 meters in diameter and about half a meter high. 62 Russian ovens were situated here around Kyrkviken.  Unfortunately, they have partially collapsed and some of them look as piles of stones.

There may be many Russian stoves on Utö, but they are not very clearly signposted and difficult to find. Team Reveal speaks from its own experience here. As a consequence, we had to use a picture from another island for illustration. Please contact us if you can contribute with an actual picture or exact coordinates!