Viking graveyards

This is an ancient place that rose during the Ironage near the mines and a conflux of rivers that supported the Viking trade routes. Gamle Uppsala, 5 km. north of the current town, has Viking mounds that snake their way across the landscape like a giant sea serpent.

The oldest Christian church is built on the very spine of a pagan temple with the Rune stones outside the main doors .

Visit the cathedral used for the coronation and burial of Swedish kings through the 1700's( an extra bonus will be your pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Eric who is entombed here).

The university is the oldest in Sweden begun as a Catholic preparation school for priests and scholars in 1477, closed for an entire generation, and reopened in the "New" Era of the 1600's. Their collection of ancient lab gear is amazing!

The Carolina Rediviva is the oldest library in Scandinavia housing over 3,500 meters of ancient manuscripts including the famous Silver Bible of the 6th century. All this knowledge makes one hungry for lunch, before walking it off in the ancient gardens of Carl Linne.

Quick Tips:

Pick up a free local Uppsala map from the tourist office located on Fryis Torg ( the square on the West side of the river.) You can get a map ahead of time by contacting their email service at: Info@utkab.se or visit the website at:

If you are following the trail of history by following Viking settlements, may I also suggest a visit to Birk Vikingastaden ( founded in 760) which is on an island just West of Stockholm, and Sigtuna ( inbetween Uppsala and Stockholm) which took over as the Viking trade settlement after Birka was abandoned. All of these sites are close enough to be day-trips from Stockholm. Few places are open during the winter.

Best Way To Get Around:

Uppsala is a quick 15 minute drive North on E4 from the Arlanda Airport. If you are coming from Stockholm, it is about 1 hour from city center...again up E4. This is a very big university center, so don't fret if you need to take the train or a bus. There are many runs to and from Stockholm.

The Domtrapp is located within a block of the Cathedral and the museum of Uppsala University as well as the parking lot under the Cathedral's shadow by the river. Eating here is not only convenient. You'll want to eat here for the simple charm of the place! Set at the corner of a medieval cobblestone street and glowing a warm rosy color, its low timbered roof and bulging stucco cottage walls emit an aura of comfort. It's almost like this is a place buried deep within our psyche from our ancestors....guess they call that "familial knowledge" that is passed on thru the generations. This is a place that I am sure was popular in 1500 as well as in the year 2001. Something has to be said about the reverance of sharing a meal that spans back thru centuries.

There are 2 different ways to eat here. If you are planning on eating heavier at lunchtime with a several course meal--then eat downstairs where the meals are priced individually ( starting at $90kr) and the native dishes are many. The place was packed with local business people at lunch with most of the men and women in suits. The rich pateena of old wood almost seemed to glow off of their faces.

If you want the " fixed price" special of the day, follow the narrow stairs up to the second floor. This area has wide blue painted wood floors and white stucco walls decorated with a border tole design. The beamed wood ceiling is a little wavy and would require tall people ducking a bit while they walk which makes it all the more authentic and charming in my viewpoint. You feel like you have stepped back into time.

The blackboard sign out front said that upstairs was serving " Homey Faire" on this day. That intrigued me....I wasn't sure what Homey Faire was, but I was very sure that I wanted it! The fixed price meal-deals were all for 70kr (about $7us)and included a drink, HOMEMADE warm bread with butter, and a little salad bar which you could go back to as many times as you wished. Then you had 3 choices for a main dish.....Turkey cutlet, breaded cod, or a vegetarian omelet. All of the main dishes also came with steamed assorted veggies, and either rice or mashed potatos. It was so filling that we only had tossed salads back at the hotel for dinner that night!

Open daily 8-6p.m.

This is the largest church in Sweden, begun in the year 1260. First on the left will be the grave of Carl VonLinne, the great botanist and physician famous in the late 1700's for his massive collections of living plant material, his travels throughout the known world (including his first interpretations of the "Savage" Laplanders), and his published classification of plants, animals, and minerals in 1735 that is of legendary status still today.

Follow the lefthand wall to the central cross section of the church and enter the middle. Tilt your head back, and look 8 stories up to where the ceiling forms a cross above you. The very last stone placed was in the shape of a golden hand with 3 fingers extended in blessing...now being bestowed on YOU...pretty cool,huh?

If you face the pulpit, which was a gift from Queen Eleonora consecrated in 1710; you can see three huge rosette stained glass windows. The window of the Son, the Spirit, and the Father. Pause to take in the view of the immense choir loft.

Turn around and continue your walk up to the high altar. The large crucifix of silver and cut crystal was made in 1976 by the famous Swedish company Orrefors, and is really awesome when light sends rainbows dancing across the room.

Over the Altar is a silver chandelier that was made in 1647. Step to the left wall again, and enter the chapel of the tombs of Queen Catarina Jagelionica and her husband's memorial tomb. (King Johan 111 is buried further on with other wives.)

Next,is the Sture tombs.The entire family was murdered by King Eric X1V in a fit of paranoia in 1567. His half-brother locked him up in prison for awhile and then had him poisoned (while he was eating eating the famous pea soup).

The next chapel holds the remains of St. Erick, the patron saint of Sweden, in an amazing golden tomb that looks like a minature covenent of the arc. He was killed on this site in 1160, probably swinging a 50 lb. sword. Johann 111 was greedy and melted down the original but must have been plagued with guilt because this tomb was the replacement he gave the church in 1580. The black tomb in the back belongs to the Finsta family, who's daughter is St. Birgitta the Holy. It's very hard to make out her picture on the bottom right side of the tomb. There are some bodyparts of hers (called relics) in the gold-plated shrine. Being a saint is a dangerous occupation since zealots carved up the body and placed pieces all over the world!

The back chapel is the Royal Vasa tombs of Gustav (1523-1560) and his wives.The fresco's on the wall were painted in 1830 by Johan Sandberg and are very lovely in form, color, and content.

There is a Cathedral museum here and an elevator up the tower which were closed when we visited.

Open in summer 11:00-17:00; winter 11:00-16:00. Free English tour at 13:00.

This is a gem located in what was the entire university of the 1600's. There were dorm rooms and lecture halls in this one building with the copper sundial that still works on the roof!

In the 1400's education was a privilege for the rich and for priests and was run by the Catholic church. All of this came to a screeching halt in the Reformation until King Gustaf decided to educate farmers' sons as well as the rich in the 1600's

Olaf Rudbeck, the physician/engineer/architect/botanist who discovered the lymphatic system was a student here and his workbooks are saved in a case for you to see. I love the doodles in the lower left hand page...proves we all daydream!

As a professor, he designed the operating observation suite on the top floor which opened in 1663. There are many stories of Olaf going to the jails to pick-out his next autopsy body while subjects were still alive! Hanging was the preferred mode of death so that the organs wouldn't be damaged. This theater held standing room for 200 as Old Olaf removed all the the internal organs into buckets that were then passed around. One was expected to smell, feel, and taste the contents of each bucket. I guess that this was a big social hit, since many people were curious what happened under the skin of humans. After the autopsy, the university bought the funeral and buried the criminals in the churchyard, which wouldn't have been granted a regular crook back then.

In one room there is an amazing case of Knowledge that was given to Gustaf 11 in 1632 by the Lutheran Councilors of Augsburg. It contained over 1,000 objects each hidden in secret drawers with such things as a roll of human skin, a walking stick that hid a weapon, a flat picture that is spun to provide a 3-dimensional one, and all kinds of amazing little wonders!The case had to be x-rayed to be sure that all the drawers were found, since the Keeper of the Case died centuries ago.

Another room holds ancient lab equipment and tools. My favorite one was the "Laterna Magica" made in 1743 that was the beginning of slide projection with glass plates and illuminated by candle power.

The hall of Swedish Prehistory contains Viking items, including these amazing Rune Staffs that are "eternal Calendars." They could calculate the day of the year, the moon phases, the sacred Viking days, and the Lunar and Solar orbits within 1.5 hours of accuracy. WOW! So much for the barbarian stigma! there's also a really cool copper helmet and half face shield that ends in a false curly brown wool beard that you'll not want to miss!

This area was settled in the bronze age, but began to flourish during the Iron age due to the mines that were located nearby. The first "king" of Sweden--Eric Segersall (the victorious) lived here from his birth in 945 until his death in 995. It is believed that one of the unexcavated Viking mounds you see today is his burial place.

In the earliest of Viking times, cairns (stone mounds) were built on top of hills where the body was placed in splendor with precious items that was torched in a huge blaze that could be seen for miles across the lower river deltas.

Later, these hills were excavated out...by hand....and full sized ships were placed in the hole. Within the ship would be the deceased in their finery along with killed slaves, horses, food,and many precious items. The Vikings took equal care with great woman as well as men. The only difference would be that the woman's burials showed more fine artistic work than the barebones approach of the mens burials.

When you pull into the parking lot at Gamle Uppsala, it appears that the progressive mounds are the humps of an immense green sea serpent twisting its way off to the horizon. There are paved walking paths that follow along.

The museum is closed in winter.(open April-Sept.) I was disappointed that I couldn't see their collection of excavated items! There's a restaurant and a few tourist shops which were also closed .

The " olde" Uppsala church is to the North was built on top of a pagan temple. If you walk past the graveyard, and look over the wall...you can see that this is perched on a Viking mound. Scattered about are some smashed rune stones with the ones sporting early Christian symbols the only ones that are still intact today.

Inside, the church is simple because of it's great age. The bricks are handmade and uneven with the walls resembling more of a defensive building than what churchs evolved into later as pieces of art. The floor is stone, cut unevenly, because it was done by hand and fitted very tightly together. The turquoise colored church pews each had their own door for entrance and each door was painted in a " tole" design using the colors of burgundy,dark blue,mustard yellow, and black. Along the back left wall is a case that holds precious items used in the church long ago. One of these items is a " wedding crown" which were lent (for a price) to brides who were married here. This tradition still occurs throughout Sweden using these rare pieces. Wouldn't it kind of neat to wear a crown on your wedding day that woman have used since the 1200's?

Behind the church to the North is a Stave-like building. These were used for meetings and church functions as well. This one had a fresh coat of bright red paint with black edging that made it very attractive.

This garden has a much longer history than Carl Linne who was here in the mid 1700's!
This was first the castle garden of 1549 that was inside the enclosed compound. At that time, gardens were mostly functional. Veggies,a few flowers for the ladies, and herbs or other plants for medicinal uses. As time went on, King Gustaf ( or most likely one of his wives) decided that gardens were a pleasurable experience, so 2 more castle gardens were added. At one time there was an aviary here and a maze made out of plants.

The first to alter the gardens was the physician Olof Rudbeck in the early 1600's. He followed the norm of the time in finding out the medicinal uses of plants. He was also a botanist, and found unusual plants to be an exciting challenge so he began collecting things and bringing them to this site for further study.

Carl Linne certainly didn't know Olaf personally, but he studied at this same university where Olaf was such a commanding influence. There is no doubt that Carl just adored plants! He spent his entire life in the study,research,and collections of plant material that he brought back to this very garden. In 1735 he had collected thousands and thousands of living plants and also published his scheme for their cataloging. We still use this method today thanks to Carl's passion!

I've read a translation of Carl's daily journals that he kept and find the most interesting one to be his drawings and descriptions of the Sami people who still live above the arctic circle and herd reindeer. Other than the very short duration of the Roman's up there...life was too tough for them to stay long....Carl's descriptions are an interesting but also racist view into the past. He was a man of his times, but his written words were the catalist for the (almost) destruction of the Sami culture. Talk about the power of words! When he brought these words back to Uppsala, it began a chain of events to convert the northern heathens to Christianity and forced assimilation of the tribes.

It's a good thing he contributed so much in the world of botany, because we could easily look at him as the villan of our story!

Carl lived for awhile in this beautiful sunny villa that is now the main building for the botanical garden. He also had a summer residence within driving distance to Uppsala, where he had more gardens and taught during the summer months.( it's open April-September) Many of the very same plants that Carl collected are still here, which is amazing to note as you wander the paths. We were here on a sunny winter day, so I will be very jealous for those of you who go here during the peak of summer to enjoy all the colors and beauty!