Sweden – Simrishamn

---

A weekend in Simrishamn

In early spring 2010 we visited the town Simrishamn in southern Sweden. Emma's sister Anna lives there and the main purpose of our visit was to see her. But we had a car with us so we also went for some sightseeing while being there. Back then we could never find the time to write about this trip to the district Skane. But now we have a bit of spare time so here is our story and the photos we took there.

The photos we took on this trip are not particularly good because the weather was not very good. But we will probably go back there again because at the time of writing this Emma's sister still lives in Simrishamn. So we hope we can go back and take some better photos some other time.

One of the more spectacular historic sites in the district Skane is The King's Grave close to the town Kivik. The grave is about 2 meters high in the centre and 75 meters in diameter. In the centre there is a tomb containing two graves. It is believed that the grave is about 3000 years old.

Another much visited historical site in Skane is Ale's Stones. Ale's Stones is a so called stone ship, that is a megalith monument where large boulders are placed next to each other in the shape of a ship's hull. Stone ships are graves over local kings or other notable people. There are no written records to tell who is buried at Ale's Stones but the size of the site, it contains 59 boulders, indicates that the person in question was very powerful.

Not far from Simrishamn is a small village named Ravlunda. On the local cemetery in Ravlunda is a grave with an unusual engraving. The grave is over the author Fritiof Nilsson Piraten and on the grave is written the following: "Here lies the ash of a man who used to postpone everything until tomorrow. On his deathbed however he mended, and died really on January 31, 1972.” (translation taken from Wikipedia).

Another much visited attraction in Skane is Glimmingehus. Glimmingehus is a 500 year old fortress built by a Danish nobleman. Glimmingehus is actually pictured on the Swedish 20 kronor banknote. The picture is taken from the children novel The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. In the picture the main character of the novel, Nils Holgersson, is flying over Glimmingehus sitting on a goose named Akka.

The town Simrishamn is a very typical Swedish small-town. In the older part of town the streets are laid with cobblestones and the houses there are lower than in the rest of the town. The houses in the old town are very picturesque. An interesting feature is that the front doors of many houses in Simrishamn are made in a specific style. These doors are known as Simrishamn doors.

Due to lack of time we kept the text in this blog entry shorter than usual. We hope you enjoyed it anyway.

By the way: We began this blog entry by saying that the weather in Simrishamn and in the rest of Skane these days was bad. In our hometown Stockholm on the other hand the weather was hot and sunny. In fact it was one of the best days in the entire month.

---

Photos

The King's Grave
One of the more spectacular historic sites in the district Skane is The King's Grave close to the town Kivik. The grave is about 2 meters high in the centre and 75 meters in diameter

The King's Grave
In the centre there is a tomb containing two graves.

Ale's Stones
Another much visited historical site in Skane is Ale's Stones.

Ale's Stones
Ale's Stones is a stone ship, that is a megalith monument where large boulders are places next to each other in the shape of a ship's hull.

The grave over the author Fritiof Nilsson Piraten
On the grave is written the following: "Here lies the ash of a man who used to postpone everything until tomorrow. On his deathbed however he mended, and died really on January 31, 1972.”

Glimmingehus
Another much visited attraction in Skane is Glimmingehus. Glimmingehus is a 500 year old fortress built by a Danish nobleman.

20 kronor banknote
Glimmingehus is actually pictured on the Swedish 20 kronor banknote.

Sand bunker
Inside this sand dune the military has built a bunker. Now I understand what a sand bunker is...

Ancient monument
This is an ancient grave monument

House in central Simrishamn
The town Simrishamn is a very typical Swedish small-town.

House in central Ystad
The town Ystad, not far from Simrishamn, is a very typical Swedish small-town

Old town
Cobbled street in the old town of Simrishamn

Old Town
The houses in the old town are very picturesque.

The church in Simrishamn
The church in Simrishamn is the oldest building in town

Angel with Trumpet
The statue is named Angel with Trumpet and is created by the artist Carl Milles. We can recommend a visit to Millesgarden, a museum and art exhibition, if you ever come to Stockholm

Simrishamn door
An interesting feature in Simrishamn is the many doors made in the specific style known as Simrishamn doors.

Comments

[Gunnar]

Not Simrishamn
This is not Simrishamn, this is a house situated at Stortorget in Ystad, next to the old town hall.

[Ake Och Emma]

Absolutely right
You are right and thank you for pointing it out for us. It has been corrected. Ake and Emma