Photo: Jules Verne Times Two (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Culture and heritage · Sweden
The Vasa Museum, Stockholm
A royal warship that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628 and was raised 333 years later, over 98% original. Stockholm's best-known museum.
Stockholm · Sweden
The experience
On 10 August 1628 the warship Vasa, pride of the Swedish navy, set out from Stockholm harbour on her maiden voyage. She sailed only about 1,300 metres before she heeled over and sank in front of the crowds, and lay on the harbour floor for more than three centuries.
In 1961 she was raised, 333 years later. The cold, brackish Baltic had preserved her, and more than 98% of the ship is original, including hundreds of carved sculptures that decorated her stern. She is today the best-preserved 17th-century ship in the world.
The present museum opened in 1990 on Djurgården, built around the ship itself, so you see her from several levels, from the waterline to the tops of the masts. The galleries around her explain life on board, why she sank and how she was raised, with a short film in several languages.
We suggest a morning visit before the crowds, and the museum pairs well with nearby Skansen in one day.
Sweden
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