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After
I left hotel. I had a plan to spend one-day tour in Stockholm. It
was my first time in Stockholm, quite excited. I started my tour from
central station, by finding something to eat first. After brunch I
went to Cityterminalen to buy a ticket for Ulricehamn. And then I
headed to Vasa Museet ( Vasa Museum), because I was counting on a
visit to this museum since last year. Here below is some story about
the Vasa that I have taken from Vasa Museum website.
The
Vasa Museum located in Stockholm and was rebuilt in 1990. In the
large hall inside the museum building stands the only remaining
17th century warship in the world, Vasa. In the early 17th century
Sweden was busy building an empire around the Baltic Sea in northern
Europe. During the 1620s Sweden was at war with Poland. In 1625
the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus ordered new warships. Vasa was
among of them.
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Vasa was built at the Stockholm shipyard by Henrik Hybertsson –an
experienced Dutch shipbuilder. His experience was much needed as Vasa was
to be the mightiest warship in the world, armed with 64 guns on two gun
decks. In 1628 the ship was ready for her maiden voyage. The beaches around
Stockholm were filled with spectators. The Vasa set sail and fired a salute.
But only a few minutes of sailing the ship began to heel over. She righted
herself slightly –and heeled over again. Water started to gush in
through the open gunports. The glorious and mighty warship suddenly sank.
Of 150 people on board, 30-50 died in the disaster. When Vasa had been salvaged
in 1961, the remains of 25 skeletons were found. |
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In
the 17th century there were no scientific method of calculating
a ship’s stability. It was not uncommon that warships heeled
over and sank. Their cargo, the guns were placed relatively high
up in the ship, whereas merchant, vessels stored their cargo in
the bottom of the ship. Instead of using calculations, the 17th
shipbuilders used so called reckonings, which recorded certain ship
measurements. However, the reckonings used in building the Vasa
were intended for smaller ships with only one gun deck. The Vasa
was built differently. She had two gundecks with heavy artillery.
The standard rules obviously did not apply here.
On
April 24 1961, the warship Vasa broke the surface of Stockholm’s
harbour after 333 years on the sea bottom. After many years of hard
work the shipwreck-specialist Anders Franzén finally found
the Vasa in 1956. He quickly found support for the idea of salvaging
the ship. The Vasa was located 30 metres beneath the surface. The
ship was lifted by using the steel cables. The first lift was in
August 1959. During summer in 1961 the ship was excavated by archaeologists.
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Vasa
salvaging |
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In
1962 the temporary Vasa Museum –the Wasavarvet –opened.
The ship and all finds were preserved. The Vasa is the biggest single
object that has ever been preserved. A chemical substance called
polyethylenglycol was used. It replaced water in wooden objects
to prevent them from shrinking when dried. In 1990 the new Vasa
Museum was inaugurated. (www.vasamuseet.se)
Entrance
fee to the Vasa Museum costs 40 kronor for youth, but I don’t
remember how much it cost for normal price, around 70
kronor. Vasa Museum is located on Djurgården. It canbe reached
both by walk and by boat from Gamla Stan. But I took a walk, because
it was nice weather in summer.
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Vasa Museum I walked back to Gamla Stan, where is an old town. No vehicles
are allowed on Gamla Stan. There are some interesting spots to visit on
Gamla Stan such as, Riksdagen - the Swedish house of representative, Kungliga
Slotet, etc. Beside those historic attractions, many souvenirs shop are
found as well. I
walked around the city until it’s time for me to leave. It was pity
that there’re still many places that I haven’t visited yet. |
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Football
at Råsunda |
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