Guide of Karlskrona

Karlskrona is a city in the south of Sweden. It is the capital of Blekinge County and has 66,675 inhabitants. The city of Karlskrona is interesting as it is spread over 30 islands in the eastern part of Blekinge archipelago and Trossö is the main one. Several islands are connected to the city by ferries.

A brief history of Karlskrona

The city was established in 1680 when the Royal Swedish Navy was relocated from the Stockholm area to Trossö Island, which before then had just been used for farming and grazing. The shipyard in Karlskrona was established almost at the same time as the city and at that time, Sweden was the dominant military power in the Baltic Sea region. The Swedish wanted to improve their strategic naval position against Denmark and so they moved the main naval base from near Stockholm, where their fleet often got stuck in the frozen seas during the winter and opted for a more warmer, more southerly location in Karlskrona. Once established, the city grew quickly throughout the 1700s.

Today, the city has kept its original street layout which follows a grid pattern, so the winds blow freely from the sea right into the heart of the city. Some parts of the city, mainly the Naval Port, have been declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In 1981, there was an incident in the city that is now referred to as the ‘whiskey on the rocks’ incident, Whiskey-class Soviet submarine S-363 ran aground in the archipelago near Sturkö just outside Karlskrona, whilst carrying out a covert mission, the reason being was that many of the crew on board were actually under the influence of alcohol! This caused major embarrassment and a temporary rise in tensions between Sweden and the Soviet Union at the time.

Things to do in Karlskrona

It is interesting to stroll around and look at the architecture in Karlskrona because it is Sweden’s only baroque city and The Trinity Church is a good example of this. It is located in the main square, at the centre of the island of Trossö. The church was built in this baroque style for the town's German-speaking population. The naval museum, Marinmuseum, is also well worth a visit, it is located on the islet of Stumholmen and housed in a modern building. It is Sweden’s national maritime museum and is dedicated to the preservation of the country's naval history. It is also one of Sweden’s oldest museums and was built in 1752 when King Adolf Frederick began collecting and documenting of naval objects and history. The architecture of this museum is also interesting, it features a dock which leads out onto the water along with several museum ships that are part of the complex. It also has a very cool underwater glass walkway where you can observe the wreckages of several seventeenth-century ships.

Beaches around Karlskrona

Stumholmens Badplats is a bathing spot on the island of Stumholmen, which can be reached comfortably within 10 minutes from the city centre of Karlskrona by foot, near the Marinmuseum. Studentviken badplats is another nice beach to the north of the city centre, it has shingle and sand as well as some grassy areas, the water is clean and shallow, perfect for families with kids.