Swedish Ship Museum: Vasa Museum
Often referred to as "the King of Maritime Museums", the Vasa Museum is a unique maritime museum located on the Djurganden Island in Stockholm. It is home to one of the most complete and best-preserved shipwrecks in the world and is the perfect place to experience Swedish naval history.
History & Facts
The Vasa is the only seventeenth-century ship on Earth that has made it to our days. It took almost two years (1626-1627) to build it. From dawn to dusk, carpenters, sawyers, smiths, rope layers, sailmakers, painters, carvers, gun carriage makers and other specialists struggled to create the navy’s great, new ship.
When it was finally done, the complete crew of Vasa was about 450 men, 300 of whom were soldiers, set sail but the 64-gun warship sank during its maiden voyage in 1628 after sailing barely 1300 meters. It lay at a depth of 32 meters for many years until it was discovered and restored.
Today Vasa can be explored in the museum display, it is a real work of art, more than 95 percent of the ship is original, decorated with hundreds of carved sculptures. Without a doubt, the Vasa Museum is a real must see you will be totally fascinated by during Stockholm tours.