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| Reviews and photos of Västerås attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Västerås sightseeing. Västerås Map |
 | Västerås Things To Do | Tips 1 - 10 of 46 |  |
Across from the Town Hall you can see this fountain. Hahaha, maybe it is not really worth mentioning, but it gives you a bit of a feel what the city looks like :-)
The fountain is just before the turbine house. The power from this turbine house was actually the start of the ASEA company (1891), later the ABB, one of Sweden's biggest companies. Leave a Comment
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After this short introduction of Västerås, let's go into town and have a look around. Let me start with this statue called 'The ASEA-strömmen' (ASEA-current) which shows a characteristic Västerås view. You can see the workers cycling home from ABB (the former ASEA). The details in the statue are great, it looks so realistic, even the lunchbox of the workers isn't missing :-) The statue is located on the main square of Västerås (Stora Torget) and has been here since 1989. I really loved this sculpture, maybe because it reminded me a lot of my own trips on the bicycle, to and from work and also from school.
The sculpture was made by B.G. Broström. A fun detail is that he even included his own father among the bicyclists. Leave a Comment
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By now your feet are probably very tired from walking around! Hahaha, but no problem, you can take a rest and have a drink in one of the many restaurants or like here on a terrace.
It's time for now to say goodbye to Västerås itself and have a look around in the surrounding area of this city. In my 'off the beaten path tips' you can read about the historical site 'Anundshög', an interesting burial mound, left by the Vikings. And in my general tips you can read all about the wonderful places to visit around the city of Västerås. So I hope you will follow me around on this trip, so I can show you much more of what the area has to offer. Leave a Comment
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I didn't take that many pictures inside the cathedral, so I can't show you so much of it. Hahaha, so I guess you have to go for yourself to have a look :-)
In this picture you can see a bit of the inside of the cathedral. Below the organ you can see the Rudbeck Burial Chapel. The chapel is framed by two candelabras with gilded chains. Three stones in the wall commemorate Johannes Rudbeckius and his two sons.
The organ above the Burial Chapel is a century old but was recently reconstructed. It is one of the largest 19th century organs in Sweden. But the organ is actually not what it looks like; the pipes that you see are only there for the show. The organ has 4472 sounding pipes, but this organ is not used that often. It takes seven seconds for the sound to travel from the organ to the front of the cathedral and this is the reason why the organist rather plays on the smaller sanctuary organ at the front of the church. Leave a Comment
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I've mentioned this name before, Bishop Johannes Rudbeckius. He is the famous Västerås bishop (1619-1646) and founder of the gymnasium. He was a strong pioneer whose activities meant a lot for the city. You can see this statue of him is in front of the cathedral. The statue is made by Carl Milles. Carl Milles is the artist that also made the beautiful statue (one of my favourites) in Eskilstuna, called the 'Hand of God'. Leave a Comment
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IIt's fun to walk around in Kyrkbacken and just wander around through the winding streets of this old part of town. Kyrkbacken is not far from the city centre, it is just behind the cathedral, so it's not hard to find. Although the houses are old, it's not a museum; it still is a 'living' part of the city. But it does give a good impression of what life in town looked like a couple of centuries ago. The houses are small and low, the plank fences, the narrow streets, and the greenery gives you an idea how a medieval Swedish city must have looked like. All the old the houses have signs on them telling their history, and this makes it easier to imagine what life in those days must have been like.
Nowadays it is the working area of quite a few artistic craftsmen and it is great to have a look around in the little stores with their handicraft. Leave a Comment
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It's time to say goodbye to Kyrkbacken and have a look at the cathedral of Västerås. If you visit Västerås you have to take a look at the cathedral! The oldest parts of the cathedral are from the 1200's and it houses important artistic treasures as early as from the 8th century.
The cathedral was open when I visited Västerås and I could just go inside to have a look around in this beautiful cathedral. I recall that the cathedral wasn't opened all day long though, but unfortunately I can't really remember the opening times.
In the picture you can see the tower of the Cathedral. The tower has an almost Baltic style and is from the early half of the 1400's. Not really visible in this picture is the gilded spire from 1693, which carries a crown. The crown on the spire indicates that the church is used for royal burials. The church is the resting place for Gustav Vasa's son King Erik XIV. Leave a Comment
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Next to the Town Hall you can find the Västerås museum of art (Västerås Konstmuseum). The museum is located in the old court house of 1860. The museum exhibitions mainly cover contemporary Swedish and Nordic art. I haven't been into the museum myself, so I can't tell you that much more about the collection.
You can find a lot of information (all in Swedish) about the museum on the website mentioned below. Leave a Comment
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Not far from the city centre is a park called Djäkneberget. Djäkneberget is a hill and lays just a couple of hundred meters to the west of the cathedral and the town square. In former times the park was used as a meeting point by the students ("Djäkne" is an old word for student) and that is how this park came to be.
The park is really nice and you have a nice view over parts of Västerås from here. But thing I liked most about the park are these boulders with inscriptions. This boulder is in memory of Sam Lidman who is responsible for more than 500 of these inscriptions in the park. It’s great to read the various inscriptions on the boulders and think about what they mean. You need a Swedish guide though, hahaha, as most of the inscriptions are in Swedish. Luckily I had someone with me to translate it all for me :-)
Some of the boulders just contain a name of a historic person, but other inscriptions are longer and have a meaning. One example of the inscriptions is : "Var heller frij än annars träl - ämedan du kant tik röra." Which means: "Prefer to be free and not a slave - while you still can move." But there are many many more (over 500) and all food for thought. Leave a Comment
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This boulder is in memory of Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), or Carl von Linné as he later was called. He is often called the Father of Taxonomy. He is famous for his system for naming, ranking, and classifying organisms which is still in wide use today. When you love gardening (like I do), you probably know about this naming system, and maybe that's why I liked seeing this boulder with his name in the park.
You can read his biography on this website :
http://www.nrm.se/fbo/hist/linnaeus/linnaeus.html.en Leave a Comment
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- Quality Hotel Vasteras
Svalgangen 1 Box 1150, Västerås - Scandic Vasteras East
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3 Long Wharf Drive, Västerås - Ibis Vaesteras
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Stora Torget Box 19, Västerås - Clarion Collection Etage
Storagatan 32, Västerås - Scandic Vasteras Hotel
Pilgatan 33, Västerås - HOTELL ARKAD
Ostermalmsgatan 25, Västerås - TA INN HOTEL
Anggardsgatan 19, Västerås - First City Esplanade Hotel
Domkyrkoesplanaden 2 Box 520, Västerås - First Hotel
Karlsgatan 9A Box 530, Västerås - Clarion Collection Etage
Storagatan 32, Västerås - Ibis Vaesteras Hotel
Slanbaersgatan 1, Västerås - First Hotel Plaza
Karlsgatan 9A Box 530, Västerås
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on November 2, 2003
