Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
lunchtime and you'll spot well-heeled ladies and gents sipping Chardonnay and
munching on shrimp sandwiches.
1
Historiska Muséet
Museum of National Antiquities • Narvavägen 13-17 • May-Sept daily 10am-5pm; Oct-April Tues-Sun 11am-5pm, Thurs until 8pm •
70kr •
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historiska.se • From Norrmalm, hop on bus #56, which runs there from Central Station via Stureplan and Linnégatan
As you wend your way around Östermalm's well-to-do streets, sooner or later you're
bound to end up at the circular
Karlaplan
, a handy T-bana and bus interchange full of
media types coming off shift from the Swedish Radio and Television buildings at the
eastern end of Karlavägen. From here, it's a short walk down Narvavägen - or you can
jump on a #44 bus - to the
Historiska Muséet
, the most wide-ranging historical
display in Stockholm, covering a period of ten thousand years from the Stone Age to
the Middle Ages with extensive displays of battles, beliefs and trading patterns. In
particular, the exhibition of medieval church art, containing a breathtaking array of
ornately decorated triptychs from across the country, is sure to impress.
The Viking Age
The section devoted to Sweden's
Viking
past is particularly engaging and informative in
its efforts to portray Scandinavia's former inhabitants not as warriors but as farmers and
tradesmen. Exhibits feature a magnificent 2.5m-high “picture stone” from Gotland
showing the entry of Viking warriors into Valhalla plus Sweden's best-preserved
Viking-age boat, dated at around 1000 years old, which was discovered near Uppsala
alongside a decapitated stallion and a greyhound, which were to accompany the body
found in the boat into the afterlife. There's a lifelike model of the village of Birka (see
p.86), too, complete with an animated film showing daily life.
The Gold Room
It's the
Gold Room
, in the basement, with a magnificent 52kg of gold and 200kg of
silver including several fifth-century gold collars and other fine pieces of jewellery, that
really steals the show. One of the collars is thought to have been worn by a king in the
province of Västergötland and features seven rings superimposed on each other, all
magnificiently adorned with soldered figures.
Millesgården
Carl Milles Väg 2 • Mid-May to Sept daily 11am-5pm; Oct to mid-May Tues-Sun 11am-5pm • 95kr •
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millesgarden.se • Take the T-bana
to Ropsten, then the Lidingöbanan train over the bridge to Torsvikstorg, and walk down Herserudsvägen
Northeast of the city centre, Lidingö is a commuter island close to the ferry
terminals serving Finland, Estonia and Latvia. The residential district of
Stockholm's well-to-do, the island is home to the startling
Millesgården
, the
outdoor sculpture collection of
Carl Milles
(1875-1955), one of Sweden's greatest
sculptors and art collectors.
Phalanxes of gods, angels and beasts sit on terraces carved into the island's steep cliffs,
many of the animated, classical figures also perching precariously on soaring pillars,
which overlook the distant harbour. A huge
Poseidon
rears over the army of sculptures,
the most remarkable of which,
God's Hand
, has a small boy delicately balancing on the
outstretched finger of a monumental hand. Those who've been elsewhere in Sweden
may find much of the collection familiar, as it includes copies and casts of originals
adorning countless provincial towns. If this collection inspires, it's worth tracking down
three other pieces by Milles in the capital - his statue of Gustav Vasa in the Nordiska
Muséet on Djurgården (see p.58); the Orpheus Fountain in Norrmalm's Hötorget; and,
out at Nacka Strand (Waxholm boat from Strömkajen), the magnificent
Gud på
