Gamla Stan and Vasa

Gamla Stan is the island on which Stockholm settled first and is now the home of The Royal Palace, Stockholm Cathederal; many small shops, cafes, & restaurants; narrow streets, cobble stones and alleys. It is very quaint and old but unfortunately it is a huge tourist attraction so as the day wears on it gets super crowded. We arrived early so got to see most of the town before the crowds and it was raining so that kept people away too.  

The Royal Palace is palatial!  It is one of the largest and most living palaces in Europe.  Built in 1754 it used to house the king and his family but they now live elsewhere but the palace is used for official functions and entertainment. The princess was married in 2010 and they held the wedding and reception here. We visited the chapel, some of the apartments where the king holds audiences, the Royal Armoury and the Royal Coin Cabinet.  We skipped the Guest Apartments, the medieval history museum and the treasury.  Due to the huge crowds we missed the changing of the guard.

I love visiting cathedrals and Svenska Kyrkan or Stockholm Cathedral was no exception.  A small church was built on this spot in 1279 with additions in the 14th and 15th centuries.  Most of the adornments were added at the end of the 17th century.  The exterior was rebuilt in mid 1700 in Italian Baroque style more appropriate to the Royal Palace. The alter is black ebony and silver, the pipe organ has 53 stops and is played regularly.  

Our best museum of the day was Vasa Museum.  In 1620's the King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus of the house of Vasa, was at war with his cousin, the king of Poland.  He wanted a powerful warship built so he could win the Baltic regions.  And he wanted it NOW!  The ship was built in two years (normally it took 5 years) and he brought in Dutch ship builders to build it for him.  He wanted it tall with lots of guns to show all how mighty he was.  It had two gun decks with 72 guns, could carry 240 soldiers and was 172 feet tall but only 16 feet wide.  In August, 1628, the Vasa set sail on her maiden voyage.  She had traveled only about 20 minutes and 1000 meters when a big wind caught the sails and tipped her to one side, she righted and then went to the other side with another gust of wind and the gun portals went under water and she sank.  She did not have a full compliment of sailors nor of canons.  Only 30 of the 140 on board died.  

The canons were retreived but they could not raised the ship.  Vasa sat on the sea floor for 333 years when she was found in 1956 and raised in 1961.  It took over 17 years to clean her up and soak all the wood with a specail preservative that replaced the water in the wood.  Three canons were found and 15 bodies were uncovered from the muck that coated the whole of the ship.  98% of the vessel on display is original.  They even found some of the sails, much rope, and some clothing.  The very cold sea water had preserved her well, the world's only preserved 17th century ship.  It was adorned with over 700 carved sculptures.