Uppsala

Map of Uppsala from 1770

Uppsala in the 18th century

Uppsala was originally the name of a place a few kilometres north of the current city, now known as Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala). Today's Uppsala was then called Östra Aros (Eastern Aros, to differentiate it from Western Aros). (Old) Uppsala was, according to medieval writer Adam of Bremen, the main pagan centre of Sweden, and the Temple at Uppsala contained magnificent idols of the Norse gods.[8][9] The Kungsängen plains along the river south of Uppsala have been identified as a possible match for Fyrisvellir, the site of the Battle of Fyrisvellir in the 980s. The present-day Uppsala was at that time a port town of Gamla Uppsala. In 1160, King Eric Jedvardsson was attacked and killed outside the church of Östra Aros, and later became venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. In 1274, Östra Aros overtook Gamla Uppsala as the main regional centre, and when the cathedral of Gamla Uppsala burnt down, the archbishopric and the relics of Saint Eric were moved to Östra Aros, where the present-day Uppsala Cathedral was erected; it was inaugurated in 1435. The cathedral is built in the Gothic style and is one of the largest in northern Europe, with towers reaching 118.70 metres (389.4 ft).

The city is the site of the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477, and is where Carl Linnaeus, one of the renowned scholars of Uppsala University, lived for many years; both his house and garden can still be visited. Uppsala is also the site of the 16th-century Uppsala Castle.[10] The city was severely damaged by a fire in 1702.

Historical and cultural treasures were also lost, as in many Swedish cities, from demolitions during the 1960s and 1970s, but many historic buildings remain, especially in the western part of the city. The arms bearing the lion can be traced to 1737 and have been modernised several times, most recently in 1986. The meaning of the lion is uncertain, but is likely connected to the royal lion, also depicted on the Coat of Arms of Sweden.

In ecclesiastical terms, the place has always belonged to Uppsala parish, from 1961 called Uppsala cathedral parish. The incorporated parts of Uppsala belong to Gamla Uppsala parish, Helga Trefaldighets parish and Vaksala parish. After parish break-up in 1974, parts of the town are located in Gottsunda parish. After further building expansion, some are also in Denmark-Funbo parish, before 2010 in Denmark parish.[11]

Until 1971, the town was part of the district court for Uppsala City Hall Court and has been part of the Uppsala Court since 1971.

Satellite picture of Uppsala

Situated on the fertile Uppsala flatlands of muddy soil, the city features the small Fyris River (Fyrisån) flowing through the landscape surrounded by lush vegetation. Parallel to the river runs the glacial ridge of Uppsalaåsen at an elevation around 30 m (98 ft), the site of Uppsala's castle, from which large parts of the town can be seen. The central park Stadsskogen (literally "City Forest") stretches from the south far into town, with opportunities for recreation for many residential areas within walking distance.

Only some 70 km (43 mi) or 40 minutes by train from the capital, many Uppsala residents work in Stockholm. The train to Stockholm-Arlanda Airport takes only 17 minutes, rendering the city easily accessible by air.

The commercial centre of Uppsala is quite compact. The city has a distinct town and gown divide with clergy, royalty, and academia historically residing in the Fjärdingen neighbourhood on the river's western shore, somewhat separated from the rest of the city, and the ensemble of cathedral, castle and university buildings has remained mostly undisturbed to this day. While some historic buildings remain on the periphery of the central core, retail commercial activity is geographically focused on a small number of blocks around the pedestrianized streets and main square on the eastern side of the river, an area that was subject to a large-scale metamorphosis during the economically booming years in the 1960s in particular. During recent decades, a significant part of retail commercial activity has shifted to shopping malls and stores situated in the outskirts of the city. Meanwhile, the built-up areas have expanded greatly, and some suburbanization has taken place.

Uppsala has economic development in many sectors. Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognised for its leading position in biotechnology.

• Abbott Medical Optics (AMO)
• Cytiva
• Pfizer (see Pharmacia)
• Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia, now a part of Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Fresenius
• Q-Med (bioscience)
• Biotage
• Skandion Kliniken, proton therapy centre
• Uppsala Monitoring Center, a collaboration between the WHO and the Swedish government known for their 'WHODD' medical coding dictionary.

The Botanical Garden at Uppsala Castle.

The Fyris river (Fyrisån) neatly divides the city into two different parts: the historic quarter to the west of the river and the modern administrative, residential and commercial city centre to the east. Most of the historical sights and university buildings are in the western part, with a medieval street layout, river views and parks and dominated by the cathedral.

The most outstanding building in Uppsala is the Domkyrka (Uppsala Cathedral), Scandinavia's largest church building (118.70 m (389.44 ft) high). Together with Uppsala Castle it has dominated Uppsala's skyline since its construction in the 13th century and can be seen from a long distance outside the city, other tall buildings being rare.

Facing the west end of the cathedral is the Gustavianum, built in 1625 to be the main building of the University, and served as such through most of the 19th century. It contains the Museum of Nordic Antiquities, the Victoria Museum (of Egyptian antiquities) and the University's cultural history collections. It also houses a perfectly preserved 17th-century anatomical theatre (used in its time for public dissections). Next to Gustavianum is the 18th century Archbishop's Palace, the official residence of the Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala and the primate of the Church of Sweden.

Across the street from the Gustavianum in the University Park stands the University Hall, erected in 1879–86 in Italian renaissance style. The Uppsala University Coin Cabinet is located in the university main building.

Uppsala Castle

Not far from the University stands the Uppsala University Library (Carolina Rediviva), the largest library in Sweden, with over 5 million volumes and some 60,000 manuscripts. The building was built in 1820–41.

On a circa 35-metre high hill to the southwest of the University Library stands Uppsala Castle. Its construction was initiated in 1549 by King Gustav Vasa, founder of the Vasa royal dynasty. Today the castle holds several museums, among them the regional art museum, and is the residence of the Uppsala County Governor (landshövding).

There are several botanical museums in Uppsala related to the world-famous 18th century botanist and zoologist Carl Linnaeus; the Botanic Garden next to the castle, the Linnaean Garden in the city centre, and Linnaeus Hammarby, Linnaeus' summer house in the countryside village of Danmarks Hammarby south of the city.

5 kilometres (3 miles) north of Uppsala city lies Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala), the location of the pre-Christian settlement of Uppsala which later provided the new name for the medieval settlement further south. There are few remains, with the exception of several huge burial mounds of pre-Christian monarchs and the previous cathedral from 1164 A.D., traditionally said to be built over the old heathen temple (and recent archaeological investigations seems to support this notion). The site was a major religious centre in Scandinavia in pre-Christian times. After the old cathedral church burned down around 1240 it was only partially restored to a more modest size as it no longer was the seat of the Archbishop.[20] The Gamla Uppsala Museum exhibits archeological finds made during excavations in Gamla Uppsala and related finds from other parts of Uppland, as well as exhibitions on the history of the site itself.

Trains depart Uppsala Central Station in three directions. There are trains to the south , Arlanda, Stockholm and Linköping, to the northwest, Dalarna and Sala, and to the north Gävle, Sundsvall, Östersund and to the northern half of Sweden as well as sleeper trains to Narvik in Norway.

While Uppsala has no civilian airport of its own, Arlanda Airport is located about 30 km south of Uppsala. Ärna Airport north of Uppsala is a military airport.

Public transport buses and trains within Uppsala county are operated by UL.

Celebrations after the 2010 national bandy final at Studenternas IP

The largest arena in Uppsala is Fyrishov and is Sweden's fourth most visited, specialized in swimming, sports events, meetings and recreation. The facility includes areas for indoor sports, summer sport and a generous waterpark with waterslides, 50-meter pool, training pool, relaxation area and a large outdoor swimming pool. Accommodation is offered at the Fyrishov cabin area, and at the resort restaurants a good lunch or dinner can be enjoyed. Fyrishov AB's business also includes the operation of Gottsundabadet in which there is a 25-metre pool, a 10-metre children's pool and gym. The entire facility is open all year round and a large number of meetings and various events are held here annually.

In addition to activities within the arena Fyrishov AB runs Tävlingsstaden Uppsala in a collaboration between the sports organizers, Fyrishov AB, Uppsala, Uppsala Tourism and hotel business. Co-founded in 2006 by Fyrishov AB under the name SM-town Uppsala in 2007 but was expanded to include international events and competitions at high national level. The project aims to develop Uppsala, a leading sports town in Sweden. In 2009 there were 24 SM-competitions and major national and international competitions in Uppsala.

At Fyrishov the city's basketball team Uppsala Basket also plays, former KFUM Uppsala, their home games in the Swedish basketball league. There are also athletic club Uppsala, Uppsala, fencing club, Uppsala Judo Club, Sweden's oldest judo club, Uppsala volleyball companion, Upsala weightlifting club and Upsala Simsällskap, one of the world's oldest swimmingclubs. The sport that draws the most audience is floorball. Uppsala's two teams in the Swedish Super League, Storvreta IBK and IK Sirius IBK, have Fyrishov as their home.

One of the most classical sports events, the Swedish bandy final, took place at Studenternas IP 1991–2012. After being played indoors in Stockholm 2013–2017, from 2018 it is again played in Uppsala. It usually attracts a spectator crowd of more than 20,000.[21]

Once every year, the Uppsala Union of Science and Engineering Students arrange a river rafting in the Fyris river with rafts built from styrofoam.

Other sports clubs located in Uppsala include:

• Dalkurd FF
• Almtuna IS
• Gamla Upsala SK
• IF Vindhemspojkarna
• IK Sirius
• IK Sirius Fotboll
• Unik FK
• Upsala IF
• Uppsala Judoklubb
• Uppsala 86ers, American football club
• Upsala Fäktning,[22] fencing club
• Upsala allmänna schacksällskap (UASS), chess club

Carl Linnaeus, scientist

• Adiam* (1982–), musician
• Amelia Andersdotter* (1987–), politician
• Magdalena Andersson* (1967–), politician, Prime Minister of Sweden (2021–)
• Anders Jonas Ångström (1814–1874), physicist
• Svante Arrhenius* (1859–1927), scientist
• Ingmar Bergman* (1918–2007), filmmaker
• Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779–1848), chemist
• Hans Blix* (1928–), diplomat
• Emilia Brodin* (1990–), football player
• Arvid Carlsson* (1923–2018), neuropharmacologist
• Anders Celsius* (1701–1744), astronomer
• Hans Dahlgren* (1948–), politician
• Lars Edlund (1922–2013), composer
• Ulf Ekman (1950–), pastor
• Stefan Eriksson* (1961–), criminal
• Martin Eriksson* (1965–), musician
• Marcus Eriksson* (1993-), basketball player
• Malena Ernman* (1970–), opera singer
• Robert Hägg (1995–), ice hockey player for the Detroit Red Wings
• Torsten Hallman* (1939–), former motocross world champion
• Lars Hollmer (1948–2008), composer
• Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961), diplomat
• Magnus Hellberg* (1991–), hockey player
• In Solitude, heavy metal band
• Imp Kerr* (1980–), artist
• Mattias Klum* (1968–), photographer
• Gösta Knutsson (1903–1973), author and radio producer
• Anna Maria Lenngren* (1754–1817), poet.
• Carl-Bertil Laurell* (1919–2001), medical doctor and researcher
• Dave Lepard* (1980–2006), musician
• Bruno Liljefors* (1860–1939), painter
• Ruben Liljefors* (1871–1936), composer and conductor
• Viveca Lindfors* (1920–1995), actress
• Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778), scientist
• Andreas Lundstedt* (1972–), singer
• Veronica Maggio* (1981–), singer
• Jan Mårtenson* (1933–), diplomat and author
• Håkan Nesser (1950–), author
• Stefan Parkman* (1952–), conductor
• Bo Johan Renck* (1966–), music artist and music video director
• Emma Rendel* (1976–), author and illustrator
• Hillevi Rombin* (1933–1996), Miss Sweden 1955, Miss Universe 1955
• Hans Rosling* (1948–2017), physician and statistician
• Olaus Rudbeckius (1630–1702), scientist
• Dina Schneidermann, (1930/1931–2016), musician
• Martin Söderström* (1990–), professional mountain biker
• Roine Stolt* (1956–), musician
• Anders Tegnell* (1956–), physician and civil servant
• Owe Thörnqvist* (1929–), artist
• Rebecka Törnqvist* (1964–), artist
• Watain, black metal band

(* = born in Uppsala)

In the History Channel's Canadian-Irish TV series Vikings, Uppsala is visited by Ragnar Lothbrok and his entourage to worship the Aesir gods and offer a human sacrifice to appease them. In that visit Lothbrok meets Uppsala's King Horik. The episode was criticised for its poorly researched depiction of Uppsala, which was shown as being located in a mountaineous region, as well as of its heathen temple, which in the series was built in the style of a medieval Christian stave church.[23]

The literary series Pelle Svanslös (Pelle No Tail) which follows the adventures of a cat with no tail and his friends created by author Gösta Knutsson takes place in Uppsala. [24]

• Allianshallen
• Area code 018
• Ärna – Uppsala airport
• Battle of Fýrisvellir
• Disting
• Easter Riots
• Fyrishov – Fyrishov Water Park
• Gamla Uppsala – Old Uppsala parish
• Graneberg
• History of Uppland
• Temple at Uppsala – Temple of Old Uppsala
• UppCon – one of Scandinavia's biggest youth events
• Upplands Lokaltrafik – operator of local public transport
• Uppsala Central Station
• Uppsala Konsert & Kongress
• Uppsala Municipality – Uppsala "kommun"
• Uppsalatidningen – free local newspaper
• Upsala College – former private college in East Orange, New Jersey, U.S., founded in 1893
• Upsala Nya Tidning – newspaper for Uppsala city and county
• Upsala-Lenna Jernväg

• William Coxe (1785), "Upsala", Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark (2nd ed.), London: Printed for T. Cadell, OL 14046005M
• "Upsala", Norway, Sweden, and Denmark (8th ed.), Leipsic: Karl Baedeker, 1903, OL 16522424M

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Uppsala.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Uppsala.

Wikisource has the text of the Encyclopædia Britannica (9th ed.) article Upsala.

• Uppsala – Official site
• Destination Uppsala – Official visitors' guide
• Uppsala cityguide – Cityguide
• Upsala Nya Tidning – Newspaper
• Lokala nyheter – Newspaper
• Ancient See of Upsala – Article from the Catholic Encyclopedia