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Published: August 24th 2022
The most visited museum in Stockholm is not the Abba museum but the "Vasa" museum. The Vasa was a 17th century Swedish warship that sank on its maiden voyage just outside Stockholm, was raised in 1961 and is now brilliantly preserved in a special museum on Djurgarden.
The ship is very very impressive. I had not expected it to be so intact, particularly as over 90% of what is on display is the original ship with only a few additions (rigging , masts etc) to improve the overall appearance. This incredible condition is due mainly to the water here which being cold and polluted did not support the oxygen that would normally have caused the wood to rot. The raising of the vessel and the subsequent preservation work are also impressive achievements and are featured in the museum. Of course the ship itself was a complete failure, poorly designed with inadequate breadth and too much weight high up made it unstable for a lower gun deck so close to the waterline. From the museum it seems that in the 17th C good shipbuilding was a skill restricted to the Dutch and English and though the Swedish King employed a Dutch
shipwright he died when the Vasa was only partially complete.
After our fix of museums we sightsee around central Stockholm, taking one of the ferries that are part of the public transport system over to Gamla Stan where we take a look into the Royal Palace courtyard and stroll through the old town square.
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