Uppsala, Uppsala (Swedish: Uppsala, [ɵpˈsɑːla]) is an ancient city in Sweden, the administrative center of the county and commune of the same name. Located in the historic province of Uppland, 70 km north of Stockholm. With a population of more than 140 thousand people, this is the fourth city in the country in terms of this indicator.

Since 1164, Uppsala has been the seat of the Archdiocese of Uppsala and the seat of the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden. Founded in 1477, Uppsala University is the oldest center of higher education in Scandinavia.

Geography

The city of Uppsala is located approximately 67 km northwest of Stockholm, 40 minutes by train, so many Uppsala residents commute to work in Stockholm, and about 35 km northwest of Stockholm-Arlanda Airport (17 minutes by train). The city center is located on both banks of the Fyris River (Fyrisson, Swiss Fyris-ån, where "ån" - "river" (Sw.)) near its confluence with Lake Mälaren. Summers are quite cool, and winters are quite mild. In summer, during the day, heat up to 35-38 ° is possible, at the same time frosts are possible at night.

Story

Uppsala was originally located a few kilometers to the north, in what is now known as Old Uppsala (Gamla Uppsala) and is now the northern district of the city. The spelling of this settlement was different: in addition to Uppsala, there were also variants of Upsala (Upſala) and Ubsala (Uppsala, Ubsala).

The first buildings in Uppsala appeared in the 5th century. The city grew and developed, and by the beginning of the 13th century, its trading center moved to a more convenient place for several kilometers along the Fyurison River, receiving the name Östra Aros (Swedish: Östra Aros).

From ancient Uppsala to the present day, there is a church of the XIII century and burial mounds of the IV-XII centuries. This area belongs to the state and is protected by the Swedish Central Board of National Values. The open-air museum "Disagården" is located in the protected area.

When Uppsala burned down in 1245, Estra-Aros inherited the name of the former city. From Old Uppsala, the center of the Archdiocese of Uppsala was moved here, the new Uppsala Cathedral, opened in 1435, and the residence of the Archbishop of Uppsala were built.

On Good Friday, April 6, 1520, a battle took place in Uppsala between the Swedish army of peasants, followers of Sten Sture the Younger, and the army of the Danish king Christian II - one of the bloodiest battles that has ever been in the Uppsala region.

Uppsala was the center of the Reformation in Sweden in the 16th century. In 1536, a meeting of the Synod of the Swedish Church was held at Uppsala Castle, at which Lutheran church books were recognized as obligatory for all of Sweden. The synod at Uppsala was an important step in the reformation in Sweden. In 1593, by decision of the Synod in Uppsala, the Augsburg Confession was adopted and the Swedish Church officially became a Lutheran denomination.

The city was repeatedly damaged by fires, the largest of which was in May 1702, but many historical buildings have survived, especially in the western part of the city.

Attractions

• Uppsala University is the oldest in Scandinavia, founded in 1477.
• House Museum of Professor Carl Linnaeus, who lived and was buried in Uppsala.
• Uppsala Cathedral - Gothic cathedral, the largest in Scandinavia (1260-1435, rebuilt several times).
• Church of the Holy Trinity (Bondchyurka) in the Romanesque style, XIII-XV century.
• Royal Castle (original year of construction - 1540, architects F. Parr, Karl Horleman and others).
• "Gustavianum" - now the university museum, in 1625-1887 the main building of Uppsala University.
• The Great Mounds of Uppsala are a complex of burial mounds.
• Uppsala Mosque near Uppsala.
• Swedish Bandy Hall of Fame, the first in the history of bandy (since March 19, 2012).

we looked out the window - the weather seemed to be decent and went to Uppsala for the festival of light, or rather illumination.
We arrived when it was still light, so we made it to the old town to the mounds and the old church.
The weather, however, deteriorated sharply, even the hail passed. They pulled on their hoods and walked stubbornly, not paying attention to weather tricks :)
-Once Uppsala was the main pagan center in Sweden. The cult significance of Uppsala was based on a huge temple, the last heyday of which fell on the 1070-1080s. One of his contemporaries, Adam of Bremen, describes the temple as a "golden temple", in which magnificent wooden idols of the gods Ases were exhibited: Thor, Odin and Freyr.
In order to eradicate pagan traditions, at the behest of the Pope, Uppsala was made a strong Christian center. In 1164, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Uppsala was created and the first archbishop in Sweden, the primate of Swedish Catholics, was ordained, the Cistercian monk Stefan from the monastery of Alvastra.
In 1240, the cathedral church burned down, in 1287 the construction of a new Cathedral began, which lasted about 150 years, and only in 1435 did the grand opening and consecration of the Uppsala Cathedral take place. Today it is a national shrine, one of the largest cathedrals in Northern Europe and the largest in Scandinavia.-
The old temple, which suffered from a fire, was rebuilt into an ordinary church, three times smaller than the previous one in size. So I went to her while my son was looking for some kind of tunnel and a new section of the railway (he has such a hobby, very railway :)

The church was open and almost empty (as usual) I took a few photos, scribbled on Celsius' gravestone and left...

walked around

Outside the church gates, there is a view of huge hills/mounds.

The son returned from his tunnel, climbed over the fence and went upstairs. I was about to lift my leg, but changed my mind - it’s undignified like that, an elderly aunt and over the fence :) I went to look for a detour and found it after 200 meters.
The view from the top of the mound is lovely.
- Of the surviving monuments of pagan antiquity, the most remarkable are three huge barrows, in which, according to legend, the Sveian kings of the 5th-6th centuries were buried. Archaeological studies have confirmed that the mounds are of a funerary nature. Jeweled swords of Frankish workmanship, ivory chess pieces originating from the Mediterranean, as well as an amazingly shaped helmet, the only analogue of which was found at Sutton Hoo on the southeast coast of England, were recovered from them.

And even the castle and the cathedral are visible in the distance.

and on top of the church

A good view of the cathedral opens from the royal palace, which was built by order of King Gustav I in the 16th century, during the formation of Sweden as an independent state. The palace was badly damaged by a fire in 1572 and acquired its modern look at the beginning of the 17th century. But in 1702, a fire again destroyed the palace, after which it lay in ruins for a long time and was finally restored in 1815-1820. At the moment, the palace houses several museums and the administration of the region.

Near the palace there is a beautiful park and a botanical garden. Entrance to the garden is free (information). There is a separate garden with a museum dedicated to Carl Linnaeus, the most famous biologist in the world, the creator of a unified classification system for flora and fauna. And if the classes of plants and animals are unlikely to be remembered by many from school, then another of his inventions - binomial nomenclature - is known to everyone. The word is complicated, but you have come across this term many times, especially if you paid attention to the names of plants in botanical gardens, where they are all called like "pipitus ordinary" :) For example, the tiger species (tigris) belongs to the genus cat (felis) and is designated Felis tigris, that is, species and genus are written together. And the most famous examples are Tyrannosaurus rex and Homo sapiens.

The botanical garden belongs to the University of Uppsala, the oldest in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. The university is associated with the names of such scientists as Anders Celsius (guess what is named after him :), Carl Linnaeus, Andres Angstrom (the distance measurement "angstrom", equal to 10 −10 m, is named after him), and others. The Gustavianum Museum is located in the old main building of the university (information).

Old Uppsala is located 5 kilometers from the city center (on the map). This is an ancient pagan settlement, the residence of the kings of the semi-legendary Yngling dynasty, which ruled from the 3rd-4th centuries. In addition to mounds and burials, nothing has remained since then, but there is an open-air museum with old houses and a medieval church. From the center you can take bus number 2.

On the streets of the city we saw a homeless man with a very unusual bicycle.

Tourist maps of Uppsala with descriptions in PDF can be downloaded

The Swedish city of Uppsala is not too famous and popular as a tourist center, it is not flooded with crowds of guests from around the world. However, people who have already been here have managed to appreciate its ancient churches and cathedrals, feel the real atmosphere of the Middle Ages by visiting the Old Town, and enjoy the greenery of local squares and parks. This modest town seems to be hiding in the shadow of a huge and noisy Stockholm, but in itself it is the most important historical and cultural value of the state.

Uppsala is located 71 km from the capital of Sweden on both banks of the Furis River, so getting to it from Stockholm is not a problem. In addition, Stockholm-Arlanda Airport is located 35 km from the city. Uppsala consists of two parts: old and new. The old city is an ancient architectural monument of the Middle Ages, protected by the state, so the whole life of the city takes place in its new part.

This quiet and peaceful town is one of the oldest in Sweden. The first mention of it dates back to the 5th century, when the first buildings began to be erected here. Like any city of that time, Uppsala got its development through trade. But by the beginning of the thirteenth century, its main center had moved a little downstream of the Furis, where a new city was founded, called East Aros.

Uppsala gradually began to acquire the significance of the church center of medieval Sweden. In the 10th century, the first Christian temple was erected here on the site of a pagan temple. In 1164 it became the seat of the Swedish archbishop. Over the next two centuries, temples and churches were actively built here, the building material for which was mainly clay.

The fire that happened in 1245 practically destroyed the city to the ground. From it remained the burial mounds of the pagan period that have survived to this day and the church, built in the 13th century. The successor of the burnt city was East Aros, which inherited both the name and the status of Uppsala. In 1273, the residence of the archbishop was moved here, and coronations of Swedish monarchs took place here until the beginning of the 18th century. In fact, until 1523, Uppsala was the capital of the Kingdom of Sweden.

Uppsala also played an important role during the Reformation. It was here that the historically important Synod of the Swedish Church took place, at which Lutheran literature became mandatory for the whole country. In 1593, a decision was made here to reform the Swedish church and its transition to the Lutheran faith.

Remaining the religious center of Sweden, Uppsala has not lost its commercial significance. Fairs were held here, gathering merchants and merchants from all over the country and neighboring states. In the twentieth century, industrial production began to develop rapidly in the city, in particular engineering, printing, and pharmaceuticals. Currently, the headquarters and offices of Pfizer, Advanced Medical Optics, MySQL AB General Electric, Phadia are located here. Lindvalls kaffe coffee, famous in Sweden, is also produced here.

Undoubtedly, such a rich and interesting history of Uppsala could not but leave a mark on architecture. The city has many unique historical monuments that have been preserved since the Vikings and the Middle Ages.

One of the most famous sights of the city is the Cathedral - the oldest church in Sweden. This brightest representative of the Gothic style in architecture was built over almost two centuries and was opened in 1435. Its importance in the history of the state can hardly be overestimated. It was here that the archiepiscopal church was located, and here the coronation ceremonies of monarchs took place. In the cathedral there is a shrine revered by all Swedes - the tomb of St. Eric. Many kings are buried here, such as Gustav Vasa and Johan II, and the most famous scientists and historical figures, such as Carl Linnaeus and Emmanuel Swedenborg.

Near the Cathedral is the Church of the Holy Trinity, which is a parish for local residents. Its age is more than 6 centuries. In addition, the religious monuments of the city are the Old Uppsala Church, the churches of Erentuna, Funbo, Bjorklinge, located both on the territory of Uppsala and in its suburbs. Each of them has its own interesting history, architecture and beautiful interior decoration with ancient frescoes, icons and gilded chandeliers.

Uppsala Castle, dating from the middle of the 16th century, also witnessed many historical events in the life of the Swedish kingdom, such as the coronation of Gustav II Adolf and the abdication of Queen Christina. The castle has been restored several times, the last restoration was completed in 1994. Since that time, the local church, the State Hall, the wax museum and the Uppsala Art Museum have been open to the public.

A significant contribution to the cultural and scientific development of Uppsala was made by the famous botanist Carl Linnaeus. His estate, now a museum, is located 13 km from the city. There is a small botanical garden in front of its entrance, and inside the building there is a flower greenhouse. However, Linnaeus made the greatest contribution to the creation of gardens, which were later named after him. In these gardens, the professor conducted his scientific experiments. After his death, the students reorganized them, arranging the plants according to the project created by Linnaeus. Now about 1300 species of flora grow in the gardens.

The surroundings of Uppsala are also of considerable historical value for the country. So the Hill of Haga or the Mound of King Bjorn served as a burial place in the Bronze Age. Various weapons and household items were found here, which were invested in the graves of the nobility of that time. Mora stones are witnesses to the election of the Swedish kings who ruled in the 13th-16th centuries. It was in this place that they took the oath of allegiance to their vassals.

Being a stronghold of Christianity in Sweden, Uppsala is also one of the largest scientific centers of the state. Medical and biochemical research is actively carried out here, a number of higher educational institutions operate. The most famous among them is, of course, Uppsala University, founded in 1477 by Bishop Jakob Ulfsson. It was the first university opened at that time in Scandinavia. In 1515 it was closed, but after the synod held in 1593, it resumed its work. Carl Linnaeus and many other prominent scientists conducted their research here. Suffice it to mention that 6 Nobel laureates came out of the walls of this educational institution, mainly in the field of chemistry and physics. Now there are 7 faculties, where more than 30 thousand students study.

It is also worth noting that the university is the custodian of a whole treasury of historical documents that are in the Carolina Rediviva library. This largest library in the country houses four thousand million manuscripts and volumes, including a map of Mexico compiled in 1555, Mozart scores and medieval manuscripts. But the greatest value of the library is the "Silver Bible", translated by the Goths in the VI century.

The museum "Gustavianium", also located on the territory of the university, is of no less historical and scientific value. Here visitors can get acquainted with the university collections and the exposition of northern antiques.

It is, of course, better to see these sights, as well as enjoy the green landscape of Uppsala, in summer or late spring. From May to September, the weather here is mostly dry, cool, the temperature ranges from +10 to +17 C. Autumn comes quite early, and winter lasts until mid-April. There are almost no severe frosts, but the temperature can drop to -14 C, especially in the northern part of the city. At the same time, the climate is quite mild, transitional from continental to maritime.

The guests of the city of Uppsala are presented with hotels of different levels of stardom and different directions from family to business hotels, located both on the outskirts of the city and in its center. Tourists have the opportunity to choose hotels with spas, fitness centers, swimming pools and expensive restaurants.

Uppsala is an ancient city in Sweden, the administrative center of the county (district) Uppsala, in the province of Uppland. Since 1164, Uppsala has been the ecclesiastical center of Sweden, the seat of the Archdiocese of Uppsala and the seat of the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden.

Founded in 1477, Uppsala University is the oldest center of higher education in Scandinavia. In addition to writing Uppsala, the spelling of Uppsala is often found in Russian literature (for example, in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, the Dictionary of Modern Place Names and in publications in Russian prepared by the Swedish Institute - a Swedish government agency that disseminates information about Sweden in the world). Uppsala was originally located a few kilometers to the north, in what is now known as Old Uppsala (Gamla Uppsala) and is now the northern district of the city. The spelling of this settlement was different: in addition to Uppsala, there were also variants of Upsala, Upſala and Ubsala (Uppsala, Upfala, Ubsala).

The first buildings in Uppsala appeared in the 5th century. The city grew and developed, and by the beginning of the 13th century, its trading center moved to a more convenient place for several kilometers along the Furis River, receiving the name East Aros (Swedish: Östra Aros, Estra Aros). From ancient Uppsala to the present day, there is a church of the XIII century and burial mounds of the IV-XII centuries. This area belongs to the state and is protected by the Swedish Central Board of National Values. The open-air museum "Disagarden" is located in the protected area.

When Uppsala burned down in 1245, East Aros (Swedish: Östra Aros, Estra Aros) inherited the name of the former city. From Old Uppsala, the center of the Archdiocese of Uppsala was moved here, the new Uppsala Cathedral, opened in 1435, and the residence of the Archbishop of Uppsala were built. On April 6, 1520, on Good Friday, a battle took place in Uppsala between the Swedish army of peasants, followers of Sten Sture the Younger, and the army of the Danish king Christian II - one of the bloodiest battles that has ever been in the Uppsala region.

Uppsala was the center of the Reformation in Sweden in the 16th century. In 1536, a meeting of the Synod of the Swedish Church was held in Uppsala, at which Lutheran church books were recognized as obligatory for all of Sweden. The synod at Uppsala was an important step in the reformation in Sweden. In 1593, by decision of the Synod in Uppsala, the Augsburg Confession was adopted and the Swedish Church officially became a Lutheran denomination. The city has been heavily damaged many times by numerous fires, the largest of which was in May 1702, and has been rebuilt many times, but many historical buildings have been preserved, especially in the western part of the city. Stockholm Arlanda Airport is located 35 km from Uppsala. Uppsala can also be reached by train and from Stockholm itself in just 40 minutes.

Among the sights of the city stand out: Uppsala University - the oldest in Scandinavia, founded in 1477, the House-Museum of Professor Carl Linnaeus, who lived and was buried in Uppsala, Uppsala Cathedral - a Gothic cathedral, the largest in Scandinavia (1260-1435), Bondchurka Church in Romanesque style, 12th century, Royal Castle, Baroque "Gustavianum" of 1620 - now a museum, and until the 19th century the main building of Uppsala University, a complex of burial mounds "Great Uppsala Mounds", Uppsala Mosque.