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Söderköping
– where the turn of the century is still alive!
Söderköping is situated in the province of Östergötland,
within a culturally and naturally varied landscape fringing the Baltic Sea.
There are 14 000 inhabitants living in the community, half of them in the
lovely old town. The atmosphere is charged with history, with three medieval
churches, an eighteenth century City hall, the Söderköping Brunn
spa and many other links to the past. It is an attractive, growing residential
city located on Route E22 not far from Norrköping and Linköping.
To those of you intending to visit Sweden for the purpose of retracing the
footsteps of your forefathers, we would warmly recommend a visit to this
engaging city.
The passage of time has not dulled the tangible presence of the past as
you walk along the narrow streets and alleys of a bygone era. Many of the
buildings still look exactly as they did when they were built in the 18th
or 19th century. Altogether, the old houses and squares portray a city that
looks very much the same as the one your ancestors would have recognized
a hundred or so years ago.
Spend one or two days in a genuinely historic environment, the memories
of which, we guarantee, will live on for a long time afterwards!
S:t Anna archipelago
If you have a day or two to spare, a visit to the S:t Anna archipelago is
a must!
Offshore are the thousand islands which form the St. Anna archipelago, home
to its own indigenous culture and a unique flora, fauna and natural history
and which can be appreciated all year round. Swimming, boating and fishing
are the highlights of summertime recreational activity, while, for the adventurous,
winter offers opportunities for the exhilarating pursuits of long-distance
ice-skating and jig fishing.
There are around three hundred permanent residents in the area, a number
that can be swelled to many times that number during the summer months by
sailors and summer visitors. But despite this welcome and cordially received
influx of tourists there are still many peaceful, scenic and secluded places
waiting to be discovered. In Tyrislöt you can visit the Archipelago
Museum and learn about fishing and boating in days gone by, and in the summer
there are boat trips from Tyrislöt harbor every day to different destinations
in the archipelago.
Where to stay
Söderköping offers an extensive range of friendly and hospitable
overnight accommodation. Söderköpings Brunn is the most famous
one, but in addition Söderköping can provide you with a wide selection
of hotels, castles, B&B’s as well as the option of staying in
private homes. Please contact our Tourist office for more information on:
+46 121 18160.
History and sights
Söderköping has long been an important part of Swedish history.
Numerous archaeological excavations going down through many metres of cultural
remains have revealed traces of more than a thousand years of human activity
on the site where the city stands today. The oldest surviving historical
record can be seen in the winding streets of the Drothem area and in the
St. Laurentii and Drothem churches built in the 1200s.
Much of the city was reduced to ashes in various wars in the late 1500’s,
meaning that the oldest wooden houses still standing today are from the
1700’s and 1800’s. There are several older cellar houses preserved,
including Braskens house where Bishop Brask is thought to have run one of
Sweden’s first print shops in the 1520’s.
Between the 13th and 16th centuries, Söderköping was one of this
country’s foremost ports for both domestic and foreign trade - the
ships of the mighty Hansa League took their valuable cargoes up the Storån
River all the way to the town square. Today as you walk on the lovely Åpromenaden
alongside this peaceful rivulet it’s hard to imagine that some of
the largest ships of the time passed by here.
Rådhuset City Hall
There is no doubt that the attractive City Hall is the most prominent building
in Söderköping. Built in 1777, it is the third city hall on the
same site and it housed the entire city administration until 1973. On the
second storey there is a well-preserved assembly room that is still used
for municipal representation and meetings, and a lovely antechamber is,
even today, used for marriages. The Rådhustorget square in front of
the building has recently been renovated, in part with a handsome stone
pavement.
Söderköpings Brunn
The Söderköpings Brunn spa was founded in the early 1700s. King
Gustav III granted the spa its charter in 1774 and visited it himself the
following year. When Dr. Lagberg’s cold water treatment was introduced
in 1842, the spa’s popularity grew and community life flourished.
The spa setting is, for the most part, original, though today it serves
as a restaurant and conference hotel.
Korskullen
Another rewarding excursion is to the Korskullen area, a lush and leafy
park near the E22 and the Spa, to which a number of historic buildings have
been moved, with the old windmill being visible in the far distance. Here,
close to the city, there is a campground with cabins, a youth hostel and
a waffle cafe in the old Lusthuset.
How to find us
Söderköping is situated on the south east coast of Sweden, just
16 km south of its larger neighbour Norrköping. Having first arrived
in Norrköping via the E4 Highway or by train,.make your way to the
Travel Centre from where buses leave every hour for Söderköping.
To obtain more information, please contact Söderköping Tourist
office by telephoning: +46 121 18160, or by email at: turistbyran@soderkoping.se.
You can also visit our web page: www.soderkoping.se,
where information can be found in English by clicking on the word “Turism”.
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