"Vasa": museum of the ship in Stockholm and its history. Photos and reviews of tourists

On one of the islands of Stockholm, where the monarchs of Sweden long ago hunted, there is an unusual angular structure. Above the dark roof of the structure, two scarlet structures resemble the masts of the ship. This "Vasa" is a museum of one exhibit. "Vasa" is a ship of the XVII century. His wooden constructions were saved almost one hundred percent. After swimming only 30 minutes, the ship sank. And today everyone has the opportunity to consider this vehicle in its almost original form.

Ship building

"Vasa" is a museum that evokes delight among many tourists. This is the only sailing vessel of the XVII century on the planet that managed to survive to our times. In the 1620s Sweden, through the formation of a personal fleet, tried to establish itself on the sea. The king of Gustav II, Adolf, who ruled at that time, believed that the greatness of the country depended on God and on its fleet. The flagship of the Swedish fleet (Vasa ship) was launched in 1628. The name of the ship was given in honor of the dynasty, which ruled in that era.

The creators of the machine had the intention to create a ship with which no other ship could be compared in the Baltic Sea. Today, "Vasa" is a museum, which is also difficult to find a worthy competitor. The sailboat was to become the embodiment of the luxury and wealth of the kingdom. Therefore, the decorations of the frigate became more than four hundred different gilded sculptures. As a result, the shipbuilders created a powerful and magnificent 64-gun machine.

The history of the sailboat begins with the conclusion of a contract for the creation of a new ship between the Swedish king and the Dutch master of naval affairs Hubertsson. "Vasa" was built for three years. All the work was done at the Stockholm shipyard. Personally, the monarch himself looked after the construction. For the ship, more than one thousand trees were felled, and 400 workers were engaged in its erection. And the flagship would expect a long and interesting history of existence, if not for one fatal error: the masters made an incredibly narrow hull of the sailboat, which led him to such a tragic fate.

The death of a sailing ship

August 10, 1628 "Vasa" was launched and brought into the open space of the bay. It was a truly historic day for Sweden. A huge crowd came to see this spectacle. The ship saluted, and the worst began to occur: as soon as the smoke from the explosions of the guns lay down, the audience saw the newly-minted car quickly sink to the bottom. A volley of side guns was provoked by a powerful recoil, after that the sailboat tipped heavily, and the streams of water began to fill lightly open cannon ports. As a result, the guns began to roll from one side to the other due to a strong inclination. This was the final verdict to the frigate.

"Vasa" was lying on the bottom of the Baltic Sea for 333 years. He was found by an enthusiastic engineer Anders Fransen. Because of the reduced level of the salinity of this sea, it lacks worms-grinders. Therefore, the sailboat under water practically did not suffer. Now "Vasa" is a museum that is located on the island of Djurgården, which is in the heart of the Swedish capital.

General idea of the museum

The Vasa Museum is one of Sweden 's main attractions. The institution was opened in August 1990. Especially for the display of a sailboat and artifacts that relate to it, the building of the institution was designed. This is one of the most visited museums in the country: every year to see the exhibition comes to almost one million visitors.

The institution operates 11 regular exhibitions, each of which is related to the history of the failed flagship, its construction, crash and restoration. In addition, there is a cinema hall in which they show a film about the history of Vasa, a restaurant and a souvenir shop.

Three expositions: "The period of construction of the ship", "Face to face" and "Salvation"

The museum "Vasa" demonstrates the audience of the exposition, which fully describe the fate of the ship. So, the exhibition "Construction period" offers guests to get acquainted with the XVII century in the history of the world (world outlook, events and facts). The exposition seems to plunge people into an era that took place 400 years ago. Thanks to this show, a person gets an idea of how the Ottoman Empire, America, West Africa, China and other states lived in the 17th century.

The exhibition "Face to Face" tells about those poor people who happened to be on board the "Vasa" at the time of his death. The meticulous work of historians and anthropologists allowed the restoration of approximately 30 skeletons of drowned people. Also, researchers were able to obtain information about the mode of life of every deceased person, the state of health and appearance. Thus, visitors have the opportunity to come face to face with people who lived four centuries ago.

Touch screens, exhibits and the diorama of the exhibition "Salvation" tell us about the searches, detection and raising to the surface of the ship. Much of the attention is paid to the person who found the car, and then supervised its recovery, Anders Fransen.

The following three exposures

The museum of the Vasa ship in Stockholm also shows chests of sailors with their contents, household items. Models of the upper deck and hold are also presented. All this can be considered at the exhibition entitled "Life on board".

The exposition "Images of power" reveals the symbolic significance of those many sculptures that adorned Vasu. So, among the sculptures there are emperors, demons, mermaids, pagan deities and even angels. In those days, all these creatures had to maintain the status of a powerful maritime state.

Looking at the exhibition "Stockholm Shipyard", you understand that four centuries ago shipbuilding was a real art. Here the remains of mechanisms and adaptations, own things of artists, builders and carpenters, working on creation of a sailboat are collected.

A few more exposures

The "Conservation" department is incredibly interesting for the audience. To save the ship-museum "Vasa", a photo of which can be seen in our description, restorers have undertaken many activities. What kind of actions took place, and tells this exposition.

"Power and Glory" is an incredibly interesting compartment of the museum. This exposition gives a complete picture of which species was the most powerful and expensive sailing ship of the kingdom. Scientists have carefully restored all the colors. Also in this room are installed huge screens on which the ship is portrayed in all its majesty.

The most intriguing exhibitions

The Vasa museum in Stockholm (photo above) boasts some incredibly intriguing exhibits. For example, "Museum Garden" - this is a real garden, broken near the institution. In the garden grow plants, which doctors on the ship planned to use in order to cure sailors. And in the garden you can see the vegetables that filled the ship's holds.

And here is another exhibition, called "Model Vasa". Here is the flagship model in the scale of one to ten. A reduced copy of the ship can be considered for hours. Then, when you come back here again, you will definitely find something that you have not seen before. To create this "miniature" model, all research materials were taken from the moment the frigate was raised from the seabed to the present day.

How to get to the museum

Getting to the Vasa museum in Stockholm is quite simple, especially since there are four ways to do it:

1. Public transport: immediately near the main entrance to the station stops the city tram number 7, as well as bus number 44.
2. A ferry: getting to the sights by water is an extremely interesting way. The ferry departs from Gamla Stan and from the center of Stockholm.
3. Every 20 minutes from the city bus station to the island of Djurgården, a tourist bus departs.
4. From the center of Stockholm to the museum you can easily get on foot. You have to overcome only 2.5 kilometers. This way is the best, especially if the weather is fine on the street.

In the summer, it is not recommended to go to the museum by private car, because you can not find a parking place.

If the visitor is not yet 18 years of age, then he can visit the facility for free. And adult tickets cost 130 kroons (about 1000 rubles).

To visit there is

The museum "Vasa" reviews are simply fantastic from all the visitors who visited it. Everyone who came here, says that as soon as you cross the threshold of the institution, it creates the feeling that by the time machine you are transferred from the 21st century to the 17th century. All the guests of the museum are delighted with the fact that "Vasa" is the only ship on earth that has four hundred years. More people are struck by the excellent state of the landmark.