Day-Trip-To-Uppsala

1)-The new cathedral was finally ready to be consecrated in 1435. Lack of money, the cold climate and outbreaks of plague during the 1300s all contributed to the very long time it took to build the cathedral.

The cathedral was built of bricks fabricated close to the construction site. The columns at the front of the cathedral are made of limestone from Gotland. The eastern part of the cathedral with the large chapels surrounding the chancel was built first. In several places the walls, vaults and columns were decorated with paintings.

2)-Uppsala University, founded in 1477, was the first university in Scandinavia. The initiative in this matter came from the Primate of the Catholic Church of Sweden, Archbishop Jakob Ulvsson of Uppsala. 

The new University was small, having at most 50 students and a handful of professors. The University fell into decay in the first decade of the 16th century due to the political unrest of the period.

3)- The building started on Uppsala Slott (Uppsala Castle) in 1549 during the reign of Swedish King Gustav Vasa who intended it as a fortress. Look up from almost any location in Uppsala and you’ll see it on the skyline at Kasåsen.

The castle is the location of several major events in the history of Uppsala and Sweden; for example ‘the Sture Murders’ in 1567 when several noblemen were butchered at the behest of deranged King Erik XIV who had accused them of treason (their clothes are displayed at Uppsala Cathedral). 

As were fires, which engulfed Uppsala and the castle in 1702 when it virtually burned to the ground.  Its remnants were then scavenged for the building of the Royal Palace in Stockholm, which didn’t help matters much. 

The castle façade you see today is faithful to the bright colour it was following its reconstruction in 1740.