Stockholm is the largest city in Sweden and also its capital. The city was found in the 13th century on a small island in Strommel channel between Baltic Sea and Lake Malaren. Over a course of next several centuries Stockholm rose to control much of the region around the Baltic sea. The wealth flowed into the city and it eventually spread over 14 islands. Most of sights in Stockholm are accessible by a subway or Tunnelbana as well as several buses. Additionally you can take a ferry around the town.
Royal Palace (Stockholm)
Kingliga Slottet Tel. 08- 402 6130 Subway: Gamla Stan Bus: 2, 43, 55, 71, 76 Open: mid- May- mid- Sept: daily mid- Sept- mid- May: 12- 3pm Tue- Sun
Royal Palace or Palace of Three Crowns (Tre Kronor) is the official office of the Swedish king. It was originally completed in the 13th century as a military fortress. Eventually it became used as an official residence of the royal family in the 14th century. In 1697 palace was destroyed by fire. Shortly thereafter it was rebuilt under supervision of the architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger (1654- 1728). Its exterior was influenced by Italian Renaissance while the interior has distinct Italian and Swedish influence. Royal Palace of Stockholm was completed in 1754.
Today part of the Royal Palace is open to the public. It is difficult to visit all 500 rooms at once. This includes Armory, Royal Chapel, Antiquity Museum of Gustav III and many others. Hall of State is one of the most beautiful rooms in the Palace. Its Swedish Rococo and Classical interior is covered by ivory and silver saltcellar, especially designed by famous Flemish painter Rubens. At the Western courtyard of the Royal Palace you can see daily ceremonial change of the guard. |
Vasamuseet
Galarvarvsvagen 14, Djurgarden Tel. 08- 519 548 00 Bus: 44, 69 Trolley: 7 Water Taxi: Djurgardstfarja Museifartygen Tel. 08- 519 548 83 Open: Jun 10- Aug: afternoon daily Vasamuseet is one of the most interesting museum in Stockholm. It is entirely dedicated to a massive royal warship Vasa. It became famous as one of the most unfortunate ships in maritime history. During its maiden voyage in 1628 it capsized and sank in the Stockholm harbor. Dark murky waters of the Baltic Sea kept its wooden parts in perfect preservation. In 1995 Vasa was rediscovered with 95 % of its structure still intact. On April 24, 1961 ship was lifted from the seabed.
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The emergence of Stockholm, which was settled and
later as a city, is intimately linked to the isolation of Lake
Mälaren from the Baltic , which has been going on since the last ice
age , when the melting inland ice eased the pressure on the earth's
crust . The land rise in the Stockholm area is part of the
post-glacial land rise in Scandinavia . Both the land rise and water
levels have together shaped changes in the shoreline around the
Baltic Sea.
The oldest documents that have been found, with a secure date, where
the name Stockholm appears, are two: one from July 1252 issued by
King Valdemar and Birger Jarl and the other a letter of protection
from 19 August 1252 issued by Birger Jarl. Stockholm was granted
city privileges on May 1, 1436. The letter of privilege is
considered to mark the beginning of Stockholm's national political
era and is usually used as a reference for the start of Stockholm's
role as the capital of the state.
The oldest stated date for the city's founding in medieval sources
is 1187 and it is found in the Visby Chronicle . According to this
listing, Stockholm was founded as a result of the Harassment of
Sigtuna in 1187 as a replacement for the burnt-out trading place.
According to Erikskrönikan , otherwise Stockholm must have been
founded by Earl Birger (about 1210–1266) in the middle of the 13th
century on the basis of the buildings that had started to be
established at Stadsholmen (with Helgeandsholmen and Riddarholmen).
A castle was erected around the archipelago to protect Stockholm and
other important cities further into Lake Mälaren as Sigtunaagainst
attacks by hostile war fleets. The city became a difficult obstacle
to the sea for enemies into Lake Mälaren and Sweden's central parts.
Through the land rise , it became impossible until the 16th century
to get past the central parts of the Stockholm sea route, which
further strengthened the opportunity to defend Stockholm and the
Mälar region.
Stockholm was early an important trading town for the iron trade
from the mines in Bergslagen where the heavy transports went by boat
via Lake Mälaren to the coast. Stockholm as a trade center for all
kinds of goods was strongly developed by the many immigrant
merchants from Germany who had their own trading centers on the
Baltic Sea coast of northern Germany. Already in the 1300s there was
a scattered settlement on the ore. By the middle of the 15th
century, the population had grown to between five and six thousand
inhabitants. The Battle of Brunkeberg on October 10, 1471 and the
Stockholm massacre on November 8, 1520 are two events that had a
major impact on Stockholm's development and the country as a whole.
The city expanded greatly after Gustav Vasa 's accession to the
throne and around 1600 the number of inhabitants amounted to about
10,000. It was during the 1600s that Sweden developed into a
European great power, which also became noticeable in Stockholm's
development. Between 1610 and 1680, the population was six-fold.
During Gustav Vasa's time, Stockholm's defense in the inland area
was not strengthened, but was moved to Vaxholm where, as early as
1548, a smaller wooden fortification was erected which later in the
1600s became the foundation for Vaxholm's fortress.
The former 'stock' in the name of Stockholm is believed to derive
from the defense devices - pile rafters - in the form of wooden
sticks anchored in the seabed (compare the word steak ), which were
in the strait between Mälaren and Saltsjön . The first permanent
settlements had been established at the pile barrier. The purpose of
the barrier was to make it more difficult for enemy vessels to enter
Mälaren and the early cities that were built in Lake Mälaren where
Sigtuna early became the most significant city before Stockholm had
established itself as a larger city. Another interpretation is that
the name would refer to fixed fishing establishments in the form of
fishing rods. The term " islet " may refer to the island that is now
calledStadsholmen , and which for several centuries mainly
constituted the city of Stockholm. Another possibility is that from
the beginning the name did not refer to Stadsholmen, but to one of
the small islets that existed in Norrström in the Middle Ages.
An alternative theory is that the word stock in Old Swedish has the
meaning "a collection of ".Stockholm could therefore have
significance; "a collection of islets".
Gustaf Brynnel presented his own theory in the publication Stock,
Stocken, Stockholm from 1965. Brynnel, who was a file mag and
lecturer, had researched about place names in the Nordic countries
where "stock" is included. His conclusion was that this was not
about logs but about tapered or shallow water; that the water is
"boiling". Stockholm would thus mean "the islet in the log".
