The Vasa Museum
I´m a sucker for history museums and the Vasa Museum is one of the most interesting to which I´ve been. There is nothing better than turning up in a new country and heading to the museum to get a bearing on the culture and mutual heritage of the people. In Stockholm the Vasa Museum takes you back 350 years into the Sweden of the past, all under the omnipresent shadow of a very, very old boat.
The Vasa set sail on August 10, 1628 and immediately started to keel over. They righted her just before the water reached the gun ports but twenty minutes later another stiff wind caught her sails and she couldn´t be saved. Into Stockholm bay the Vasa sank to remain lost until 1956.
Anders Franzen had been searching for the Vasa since 1953 and finally one lucky day pulled up his lead probe and saw oak. Over the course of the next seven years divers, historians, and salvagers worked tirelessly to bring the ship back to the surface. In 1961 the Vasa sailed again having been miraculously preserved in the mud and less salty Baltic Sea waters. In saltier water woodworms would have devoured the ship centuries ago, but not here.
Once again this massive ship, albeit structurally flawed, can be admired in nearly all her glory. Even the sculptures remain intact, some even with traces of their original paint.
Tags: Eurasia: Marco Polo-in' it, Stockholm, Sweden
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