The Vasa: an elegant seventeenth-century warship in Stockholm

by Sean McLachlan on


Sweden’s capital Stockholm has a lot to offer-fine dining, good shopping, lovely parks, access to some interesting day trips (the old Viking capital of Uppsala being my favorite) and a unique museum. The Vasa Ship Museum is one of Sweden’s most popular tourist attractions and it’s easy to see why. It houses a beautifully preserved 17th century warship.

The Vasa was meant to be the pride of the Swedish fleet at a time when the nation was one of Europe’s major powers. The galleon was 226 feet long, carried 145 sailors and 300 soldiers, and sported elegant woodwork over much of its exterior. Its 64 cannon could blast out 588 pounds of iron from port or starboard, giving it more firepower than any other ship then in existence. It must have been a major letdown when it sank barely a mile into its maiden voyage in 1628. It turns out the whole thing was top heavy.

While the Vasa was a bad ship, it’s an awesome museum piece. The cold water, silt, and pollution of Stockholm harbor kept it safe from microorganisms that would have eaten it up. When archaeologists raised it from the sea they retrieved thousands of artifacts such as weapons, utensils, coins, clothing, tools, and hemp sails and rigging. Some parts of the ship still had flakes of paint and gold leaf adhering to them, so its once-vivid colors could be reproduced in a scale model in the museum.

This year is the 50th anniversary of its raising from the bottom of the harbor. This was a tricky operation that required 1,300 dives and a great deal of delicate underwater work in low visibility. Divers had to dig six tunnels under the shipwreck in order to run steel cables through them and attach them to pontoons on the surface. After that, the pontoons lifted it to the surface without a hitch.

The next step was to reassemble the ship. All of the nails had rusted away, so the archaeologists were left with a massive jigsaw puzzle with many of the pieces missing. Some 32,000 cubic feet of oak timber and more than 26,000 artifacts had to be preserved, cataloged, and archived. To house the restored ship, the Vasa Ship Museum opened in 1990.

Now the Vasa may get some companions. Five other ships dating from the 16th to the 18th century have been discovered during the renovation of one of Stockholm’s quays. This was the site of the old shipyards where the Vasa was built. They’re said to be in good condition and some are as long as 20 meters (66 feet).

If you love the sea, you’ll also want to check out Amsterdam’s Maritime Museum and Madrid’s Naval Museum. And if you’re going to Stockholm, check out our budget Stockholm guide.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

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Sexy goddess bares all in Boston

by Sean McLachlan on


The ancient goddess of love, sex, and beauty is making an appearance at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Aphrodite and the Gods of Love is a new exhibition examining one of the most popular ancient goddesses and her place in the Classical world. More than 150 ancient works of art are on display, including famous pieces such as the Knidia, a life-size sculpture of Aphrodite made by the 4th-century BC Greek artist, Praxiteles. Another interesting piece is the Sleeping Hermaphrodite, a reclining figure who from one side looks like a voluptuous woman, and from the other like a man.

The exhibition traces Aphrodite’s sexy origins in the Near East and the place of her cult in Greek and Roman society. Aphrodite was a Greek goddess who was adopted into the Roman pantheon as Venus. She was the symbol of romantic love and ideal beauty. She also oversaw marriage, an odd choice since many of the myths surrounding her involve her cheating on her husband, the blacksmith god Hephaistos (Vulcan). Men worshiped her because she aroused male virility.

Being in charge of such important aspects of life made Aphrodite extremely popular. She was the patron goddess of Pompeii. Interestingly, Ramsay MacMullen in his Paganism in the Roman Empire points out that altars in private homes in Pompeii were more often dedicated to Foruna, Vesta, and Bacchus than Aphrodite. Perhaps because love received so much public worship, people felt they needed to give good luck, the home, and drinking some attention. They can be related, after all!

McMullen’s book (which I highly recommend) also touches on various ways the Romans worshipped Venus, including picnicking in the orchards around her sanctuary in Cnidus, and wild processions where a woman playing Venus led a string of dancing children playing Cupid. She and the other deities were very much part of daily life.

The exhibition also looks at related figures of Classical mythology, such as Aphrodite’s sons Eros (Cupid), the well-endowed Priapus, and Hermaphrodite.

If you want to meet this lovely lady and her interesting offspring, you better hurry. Aphrodite and the Gods of Love is only on until February 20, 2012.

Top photo: Fresco of The Judgment of Paris, Roman, Imperial Period, 45–79 A.D. Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. © www.pedicinimages.com. Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

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New York State Museum celebrates 175th anniversary

by Sean McLachlan on


The New York State Museum is getting old enough to be a museum piece itself. At 175 years it’s the oldest state museum in the country (and the largest), yet it’s constantly renewing its exhibitions and is anything but old and stuffy.

To celebrate, the museum is having a special exhibit called From the Collections, which shows the museum’s origins from an 1836 survey of the state’s geology, plants, and animals. Some of these original collections are on display, including minerals, the baleen of a whale, and information about some of the early researchers who got the museum going. One popular item is the Weebermobile, a one-cylinder car built in 1903 by Christian Weeber Jr. He began building cars in Albany as early as the 1890s.

Then there are the regular displays, such as the Native American art, a collection of Shaker artifacts, photos of Harlem in the 1920s, and a mastodon, shown here this photo courtesy Bob Keefer.

From the Collections runs until 1 April 2012.

Belgrade fortress besieged by flowers

by Sean McLachlan on


Belgrade fortress is one of the toughest castles in Europe. In its 2,000 year history its stood against numerous invaders, been destroyed several times, and has always risen from the wreckage.

Despite such a proud history, Belgrade fortress is beginning to crumble from the effects of a combination of coal smoke and fertilizer from the flower beds of the surrounding park.

The website medievalists.net reports that a Serbian and French team have been analyzing a black crust that’s been forming on the limestone walls and found it to contain syngenite, a double sulfate of potassium and calcium that’s the result of the use of potassium fertilizer in the flowerbeds along some parts of the walls.

Pollution from cars and coal-burning factories has long been known to chip away at stone. A similar black crust can be seen on many of the historic walls in Oxford. This new study shows that caretakers of historic sites have to be careful how they beautify the grounds.

Belgrade fortress is treat for any history buff or castle fan. Located at the strategically important confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers, a fort was first built here by the Romans in the first century AD. This was one of the rougher regions of the Roman Empire and the fort saw action numerous times before finally being destroyed in the early 7th century by the Avars and Slavs. Legend has it that Attila the Hun is buried somewhere in the grounds of the castle.

The Byzantine Empire, as the eastern remnant of the Roman Empire came to be called, continued to value the site and built a massive fort there in the 6th and again in the 12th century. Belgrade fortress was later the pride of the emerging Serbian nation and was improved and expanded several times. When Austria ruled the area in the 18th century it saw action against the expanding Ottoman Empire.

The extensive grounds are very popular with locals and include a park, a military museum, and a zoo.

Photo by CrniBombarder!!! (from Wikimedia Commons)

Stay at a former military prison turned art hostel in Ljubljana, Slovenia

by Jessica Festa on

Recently, Gadling’s Meg Nesterov talked about 10 reasons to travel to Ljubljana in Slovenia. The country has a lot to offer to visitors, and for those looking for an affordable and historical place to stay, a unique hostel experience, as well.

Hostel Celica, currently an artsy youth hostel, was once a military prison within the military barracks of Metelkova Street, dating back to 1882. Once Slovenia gained independence and the barracks were no longer needed, the Metelkova Network planned to turn the site into a multicultural center. The vision never came to be, and when the city tried to demolish the barracks, the network and its supporters used their bodies to protect the building. They occupied the site, and when the city turned off the electricity and water, a new plan began to form in their minds.

The group decided to make the place into a welcoming space for international travelers, and with the help of architect Janko Jozic and over 80 artists, Hostel Celica opened its doors to its first guests in 2003.

While the space is now a hostel, that doesn’t mean it’s lost its essence of history and culture. There are 20 prison cells that act as rooms, and one of the former prison cells has been converted into a Point of Peace, a space where visitors can pray and meditate. There are alters for the five major world religions of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, and the highest religious representatives from each have come to bless the space. Moreover, an art gallery resides on the first floor of the hostel, and workshops, debates, concerts, and cultural events take place on a daily basis.

For more information or to book a room at Hostel Celica, click here.