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Bright
KALMAR
had much to do with Sweden's medieval development. It was the scene of the first meeting of the
Riksdag
called by failing king Magnus Eriksson in the mid-fourteenth century, and played host to the formation of the Kalmar Union, the 1397 agreement uniting Sweden, Norway and Denmark - a history manifest in the surviving castle,
Kalmar Slott
(April-Sept 10am-4/6pm; Oct-March 11am-4pm; 60kr), beautifully set on a tiny island a few minutes' walk away from the bus and train stations. Defended by a range of steep embankments and gun emplacements, the fourteenth-century buildings survived eleven sieges virtually unscathed, a record not respected by King Johan III who rebuilt the structure in the late sixteenth century. The castle is now a storybook confection, with turrets, ramparts, moat and drawbridge. The spruce interior repays a long dawdle; highlights include the intricately panelled Lozenge Hall and a dark dungeon.
If the castle seems to defend nothing in particular it's because the town was shifted to Kvarnholmen, an island to the north, in the mid-seventeenth century following a fire. This is modern Kalmar, a graceful, straightforward grid settlement which centres on the Baroque
Domkyrkan
(daily 10am-6pm) on Stortorget. Time is best spent wandering the streets around
Lilla Torget
: there's not a great deal left - some seventeenth-century buildings and city walls - but what remains is authentic and atmospheric enough. The one place really worth making a beeline for is the
Kronan Exhibition
, the main attraction of the
LA€nsmuseum
, Skeppsbrogatan (daily: mid-June to mid-Aug 10am-6pm; rest of year 10am-4pm; 50kr). The
Kronan
was one of the three biggest ships in the world - twice the size of the
Vasa
- when it went down after an explosion in the gunpowder magazine in 1676, lying undisturbed until 1980. There's an inventive walk-through reconstruction of the gun decks and admiral's cabin, as well as a swag of gold coins, clothing, sculpture, jewellery and weapons - in fact, a complete picture of seventeenth-century maritime life and a remarkable insight into a society at the height of its political powers.
The
tourist office
at Larmgatan 6 (early June & late Aug daily 9am-9pm; mid-June to mid-Aug daily 9am-8pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; tel 0480/153 50,
info@turistbyra.kalmar.se
), 100m from the
train station
and
bus terminal
, doles out a decent map of Kalmar and arranges
private rooms
from around 300kr a double or 190kr for a single. Or stay at the
youth hostel
at Rappegatan 1c (tel 0480/129 28; E10-15/$16-24), 1500m away on Engo, the next island north. The
SjA¶fartsklubben
on Skeppsbrogatan (a seaman's mission but open to all) has doubles for 270kr and cheaper dorm accommodation, while there's a
campsite
on StensA¶ island, 3km from the centre, with a few cheap cabins. For
food
, most places centre around Larmtorget, where you can get a tasty and filling lunch for around 50kr. For an atmospheric cafe, try the elegant
Kullzenska Cafeet
, upstairs at Kaggensgatan 26. The hippest eaterie though is
T & T
, Unionsgatan 20, where you can down delicious and unusual pizzas and a good range of wines (Mon-Thurs 11am-midnight, Fri & Sat noon-1am, Sun noon-midnight).
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