Vadstena
Vadstena | |
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Vadstena (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈvâsːˌteːna] ) is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,613 inhabitants in 2010.[1] From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality.
Despite its small population, Vadstena is, for historical reasons, still referred to as a
History
Above all, the city of Vadstena is noted for two important facts of Swedish history. It was in Vadstena, year 1350, that
Since the 16th century, Vadstena has been the location of a hospital. Earlier in history, it mainly housed mental patients. Today, some of the oldest buildings present the Vadstena Hospital Museum.
The buildings in the city centre date mainly from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The old town is well preserved and the streets have not changed much over the centuries. The Town Hall is Sweden's oldest, dating back to the early 15th century. Notable is the main street (Storgatan) where all the shops are gathered, as they would have been during the Middle Ages.
The botanist Erik Acharius died in Vadstena (1819).
Railway
Vadstena also preserves elements of more recent history in the museum of the Vadstena-Fågelsta narrow gauge railway (Wadstena Fogelsta Järnväg).[2] This 891 mm (or Swedish three foot) railway was once part of a large network of narrow-gauge railways in Östergötland constructed in the latter part of the 19th century.
Famous people
- Stina Blackstenius, Swedish footballer
- Nina Koppang, Swedish handball player
Gallery
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Vadstena station
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Vadstena Abbey Church
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Vadstena Castle
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg/40px-Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg.png)
- ^ a b c "Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km2 2005 och 2010" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 14 December 2011. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
- ^ The railway museum in Vadstena Wadstena Fogelsta Järnväg. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
External links
- Tourism website of Vadstena [1] (Swedish, German, English)