Tour of the Island of Öland and City of Kalmar

7/14/2024

"Öland is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of 1,342 square kilometres (518 square miles) and is located in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Småland. The island has over 26,000 inhabitants.

It is separated from the mainland by the Kalmar Strait and connected to it by the 6-kilometre (3+1⁄2 mi) Öland Bridge, which opened on 30 September 1972. The county seat, Kalmar, is on the mainland at the other end of the bridge and is an important commercial center for the Öland economy. Much of the island is farmland, with fertile plains aided by the mild and sunny weather during Summer."

Iron Age burial ground at Gettlinge.

We then left the Island of Öland, returned to Kalmar, and found a place to park so we could tour the city.

David slays Goliath...

"From the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, Kalmar was one of Sweden's most important cities. It became a fortified city, with the Kalmar Castle as the center. After the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, Kalmar's importance diminished, until the industrial revolution arrived in the 19th century."

A commercial building from 1667...

"Kalmar Cathedral is located on Stortorget Square - construction began in 1660 and was completed in 1703. The Cathedral was designed for the Church of Sweden by architect Nicodemus Tessin and is one of the foremost examples of classical baroque architecture that appeared in Sweden."

Kitty art at the beach, and avian lawn fertilizers do their thing...

A modern neighborhood across the sound...

Now where's that memorial stone to the initiation of the Kalmar Union...

"The Kalmar Union was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden as designed by widowed Queen Margaret of Norway and Sweden. A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. From 1397 to 1523, it joined under a single monarch the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden (then including much of present-day Finland), and Norway, together with Norway's overseas colonies (then including Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland)."

Kalmar Castle

"During the twelfth century a round defensive tower was built on Kalmarsund and a harbor constructed. At the end of the thirteenth century King Magnus Ladulås had a new fortress built with a curtain wall, round corner towers and two square gatehouses surrounding the original tower. Located near the site of Kalmar's medieval harbor, it has played a crucial part in Swedish history since its initial construction as a fortified tower in the 12th century."