Uppsala is a picturesque and green Swedish city, capital of the kingdom until 1523. The largest cathedral in Scandinavia is the main attraction of Uppsala. Construction of the cathedral had begun in 1287 and lasted for about 150 years. If you think that's too long, then check the construction time of the famous Cologne Cathedral. Famous people are buried inside, for example, King Gustav I Vasa and biologist Carl Linnaeus.
Nice view of the cathedral opens from the Royal Palace, which was built by King Gustav I in the 16th century, during the formation of Sweden as an independent state. The palace was badly damaged by fire in 1572 and got its modern look in the early 17th century. But in 1702 a fire destroyed the palace again. For the long time it lay in ruins and was finally restored in 1815-1820. Currently several museums and the regional administration are located in the palace.
Near the palace 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 and creator of uniform system of flora and fauna classification. Maybe not all of us remember classes of plants and animals from the school, but everybody knows other his invention, the binomial nomenclature - a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts. 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. Many famous names are associated with this university: Anders Celsius (guess what was named after him :), Carl Linnaeus, Anders Ångström (the value of measuring distances "angstrom", equal to 10−10 m, was named after him) and others. The old main building of the University currently hosts the Gustavianum museum (information).
5 kilometers from the city center the Old (Gamla) Uppsala is located (map). This is an ancient pagan settlement. Early written sources show that already during the pre-history, Gamla Uppsala was well known in Northern Europe as the residence of the Swedish kings of the legendary Yngling dynasty. Currently only several mounds remained from those times, but there's an open air musem and a medieval church. Go there from the center by bus #2.
Tourist maps of Uppsala in PDF can be downloaded here.
Getting there: Bus schedule from different cities to Uppsala is here. Timetable of trains to Uppsala is here. Trains from Stockholm depart every 30 minutes, travel time is 40 minutes, ticket price is $12. Some commuter trains in Stockholm also go to Uppsala, the journey time is 55 minutes, and they have more stops. Description of transport in Uppsala can be found here.
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