Different activities and some history about Kalmar
Notes
Introduction Kalmar
Seaport on the southeast coast, 390 km (242 miles) south of Stockholm, Kalmar was once the third largest city in Sweden. With scenic beauty all around and well-maintained walkways, Kalmar is the only city to have received the "Europa Nostra" award for its well-preserved city centre, twice. With a coastline stretching up to 50 km, Kalmar has many interesting and beautiful beaches to offer to the tourists. Kalmar is connected to the Oland Isle by the longest bridge in Europe, spanning more than 6 km over the Kalmar Sound. Orland is a popular resort island where the Swedish Royal family spends its summer season. According to a statistics Kalmar receives about 3.5 million visitors during the summer season and almost 4.9 million vehicles cross the Oland Bridge each year. Kalmar is also known as “the lock and key to Sweden”, because of it being a ready access on the Baltic Sea to Denmark, Germany, Poland, the Baltic States, and northern Sweden including Stockholm. Due to these distinctions, Kalmar was a periodical battleground of conflicts between the Scandinavian powers and rival Swedish factions. Kalmar is also known for the famous Kalmar Union of 1397 pact, which joined Sweden, Norway and Denmark into a single Scandinavian kingdom. With a rich culture dating back to the Stone Age the Kalmar region is rich, with high-class agricultural land, forests of leaf and fir trees.
PART OF CIRCUIT What to do City at a Glance
Kalmar along with the Oland Island is a popular tourist spot during the summer season. Kalmar is also within an hour’s drive of some of the world’s finest glass works, at Boda, Orrefors, Kosta, Strombergshyttan, where artisans run communities in the woods of Smaland centered on their workshops.
Kalmar is a tourist spot to be visited during the summers. With picturesque landscapes and scenic beauty, Kalmar has a lot to offer the tourists. The magnificent Kalmar Castle is the major attraction among sightseeing places. There are many beaches around Kalmar, to indulge in the seaside affair. Besides Kalmar has many theatres, pubs and discos, gardens and parks, where time can be spent during after-hours. Kalmar has many churches for the religious and many sports centres for the adventurous lot. Among the sports centres, Kalmar offers almost everything, from a golf club to an ice skating rink. Diving, bowling, badminton, tennis, squash, billiards and diving are also quite famous here. You can as well indulge in windsurfing, boating, canoeing, fishing and riding.
Latitude
56.67°N
Longitude
16.36°E
Altitude
1 metre (3 feet) above sea level
Area
11.171 sq km
Population
33,000
Language
Swedish
Religion
Christianity
City Phone Code
480
Country Phone Code
46
History
The history of Kalmar dates back to the Stone Age. Excavations in Ljungbyholm, just south of Kalmar, during 1968-69, uncovered relics from about A.D. 600 and the Bronze and Stone Ages. Due to its strategic position, the port of Kalmar was an important axis along the routes of the Vikings, whose period of domination reached its peak in the eleventh century. During the decade of the 1120’s, King Gigurd of Norway, crusading in the name of Christianity, laid waste to Kalmar. From 1307 until 1612, the Hanseatic League besieged Kalmar less than twenty-three times, indicating the magnitude of port’s importance to the region. In 1386, when the Swedish Lord High Jonsson Grip died, Margareta the daughter of a Danish king (whose wife was a daughter of a Norwegian king) found the opportunity to unify the three Scandinavian territories of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Margaret’s son and her only heir, Olav, had died in his infancy, but Margareta assured the continuation of the Scandinavian Union by selecting her great nephew Erik as her successor. The fifteen-year-old Erik was coroneted on Trinity Sunday in 1397. It was on this day the most sweeping pact of the Kalmar Union was drafted. Queen Margareta died of plague in 1412, when Erik realized the full role of the kingship.
In 1470, Christian, Erik’s successor in Denmark, brought troops to Stockholm to administer the Kalmar Union, but was defeated by the newly elected Swedish regent Sten Sture. In June 1523, Gustav, nephew of Sten’s widow was elected as the king of Sweden. Meanwhile the Kalmar Union had come to an end.
It was during the mid-sixteenth century that much of Kalmar’s most impressive architecture was erected under the reign of Christina, who was well educated and bred in Latin traditions. During her rule, Sweden saw a period of architectural splendour, which was dominated by the baroque styles.
Weather and Best Season to Visit
Kalmar attracts tourists during the summer season as the climate during the period is pleasant and greenery around is awesome. It snows normal to heavy during the winters and the temperature in January and February sometimes drops below the freezing point. The weather during this period can also be somewhat rainy and windy. During spring and autumn, the average temperature is 12°–16°C.
HIGHLIGHTS/ ATTRACTIONS 
Kalmar Castle
Kalmar Castle today is one of Sweden’s chief tourist attractions. Among the most magnificent rooms are the Banquet Hall (Unionssalen), the Queen’s hall (Drottiingsalen), and the Golden Hall. The State Chamber with its intricate designs carvings and stuccowork attracts many art connoisseurs. The castle’s rococo chapel is still used for Sunday services, and its museum houses much of the finest art and artefacts.
Although, some sections of the Kalmar Castle date back to the eleventh century, it was Gustav Vasa who created many of the impressive Renaissance features of the castle that remain today: its moat, its defence towers, its grand courtyards, and its dungeons, which lie below the sea level to make escape by tunnelling impossible.
Opening times:
April, May, Sept, 10.00-16.00 daily
June–August, 10.00–18.00 daily
Other periods, 2nd weekend in each month 11.00–16.00
Beaches
Beaches of Kalmar can be divided into three zones—Central Kalmar, South Kalmar and North Kalmar.
The beaches of Central Kalmar are Bergavik, Jutnabben, Kalmarsunds Park, Kallbadhus, Kattrumpan, Kindbergs udde, Koudden, Langviken, Värsnäs Nudist, Norrliden, Stensö, Svinö, Talludden and Värsnäs. Most of these beaches are not stony and have a lot of grass on them. Many beaches offer sauna and diving facilities.
The beaches in South Kalmar are Ekenäs, Eko, Kolbodabaden and Vita Sand. These beaches offer changing rooms and are good for swimming.
The beaches in North Kalmar are Enerevet, Ljungnas and Rafshagen.
Kalmar Art Museum
The Kalmar Art Museum exhibits the works of the Swedish painters Zorn and Carl Larsson and other fine paintings by artists from the 19th century up to the present day. The museum is open from 1st January to 15th May and from 16th may to 13th September from 10 am to 5 pm through Monday to Friday and 11 am to 5 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. From 14th September to 31st December, the museum keeps open from 10 am to 5 pm and then from 7 pm to 9 pm through Monday to Friday and from 11 am to 5 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Neue Pinakothek covers the 19th and 20th century works of masters such as Gainsborough, Goya, Delacroix, Manet, Monet, Degas, Cézanne, van Gogh, Gustav Klimt, Max Beckmann, and Edvard Munch.
Kalmar County Museum
Kalmar County Museum opened in 1987 and today houses the history and culture for the Kalmar region dating back to the Stone Age. The textile department of the museum houses textiles from the end of the 17th century to the 1970s.
Traditional crafts of Smaland and Oland and a wide range of high-class copies of original objects in the museum's collections can be bought at the museum shop.
The Kronan Man-of-War
The museum in the Kalmar castle offers an exhibition of the salvaged effects of the Swedish man-of-war Kronan, which sank off the coast of Oland in 1676 with 800 men aboard. Raised in 1980, the ship yielded bottles of 300-year-old brandy and invaluable coins and weapons.
The Marine Museum
The Marine Museum displays the shipping history of Kalmar.
The Butterfly House
Complete with free-flying butterflies from most parts of the world, one can see the complete life cycle of a butterfly here. One can simply follow the fascinating progress through the egg-caterpillar-chrysalis stages into fully developed butterflies.
The Old Town
The medieval centre of Kalmar is today known as the Old Town. It lies just besides the Kalmar Castle. It still has many well-preserved 17th and 18th century buildings and is a fine cultural and historical quarter.
Churches of Kalmar
The churches of Kalmar are magnificent and are rich from their art and craft details. The important churches of Kalmar are Kalmar Cathedral, Arby church, Hagby church and Voxtorp church, Hossmo church, Klackeberga church, Ryssby church and the St.Birgitta's church.
The Oland Bridge
The Oland Bridge took four years and nine months to build. Work was officially started on December 30th 1967, and the bridge was opened on September 30th 1972. It is 6,072 m long, 13 m wide, the highest point is 41.6 m and the lowest is 6 m. Swedish bridge builders build the bridge of reinforced concrete. The workforce consisted of 116 men on average, with 160 taking part during the most hectic period. Only one third of the whole construction is visible, the remaining two thirds is hidden below sea level. At some points, the foundations go down 22 m under the seabed of Kalmar Sound.
Oland
Oland is an island, which is bustled by the tourists in the summer season. Kalmar is linked to Oland by a 6-km long bridge. Oland is also the holiday destination of the Swedish Royal family. Kalmar is also at an hour’s drive from the world’s finest glassworks at Boda, Orrefors, Kosta and Strombergshyttan
After Hours
There are many restaurants, pubs and discos, theatres and dance shows in Kalmar to spend the after hours. Calmar Stadshotell, Etage, Teatervallen and Lindstoms are the well-known nightclubs of Kalmar
VISITOR INFORMATION
Kalmar Tusistbyra, Sverigereson Sydost,
Larmgatan 6, Box 23
391 20 Kalmar, Kalmar
Sweden
(480) 153 50
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Air
The nearest airport to Kalmar is about 5 km from the city centre. There are regular flight services daily to Stockholm. One can also fly directly to Copenhagen. Connections to reach other major places are also available. Kalmar Aviation arranges taxi services to anywhere one wishes to go.
Rail
A very well connected network of rails makes train travel easier in Kalmar. There are about ten trains daily between Kalmar and Alvesta. From Alvesta you can get other trains for the nearby major places of importance in Sweden.
Road
A well-maintained network of road could take one to all the directions. The main highway is the E22, which runs north/south through Kalmar. The main roads 25 and 31 run westward. The eastward is covered with water. However, one has the picturesque Oland Bridge, which connects the place directly with Oland.