Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum)

27 October 2018

Today, I visited Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum), Sweden's number 1 museum! Vasa is the name of  a warship that sank in 1628 and recovered 333 years later. Once again, a huge thanks to Kompis Sverige for this visit which comes with a 1-hour guide. I learnt so much! I did not visit this museum when I visited Stockholm for the first time in 2015. I did not even know then about Vasamuseet. Then, when I moved to Sweden last year, I found out about Vasamuseet's fame but I did not step inside due to the entrance fees of SEK150. When Kompis Sverige put this up on their website, I did not hesitate to click 'join'!

This is it, the humongous warship that is still standing proudly after 390 years. Gosh, 3 centuries. How did it survive so long? Right after it was rescued from the bottom of the waters, the ship was sprayed with water and glycerin for 17 years to preserve it. It is not sprayed anymore but the museum is kept at 18 degrees with minimal light. Any wooden item will break and disintegrate once it is exposed to the air, when it has been in the waters for 333 years. 

Here is a bit of history on Vasa ship.

The ship took 2 years to build. Experts were called in from Germany & Holland. The leader was from Holland but died within a year and his wife, Margareta took over. The team was not blamed when the ship sank because the King approved the voyage although it was highlighted in the tests that the ship is not fit for sailing. There were about 150 persons on the ship. 30 did not make it. Swimming was a skill not many had as waters back then were associated with diseases, monsters and filth which were dangerous. Those survived were saved by the boats that were close to the ship. 

The bolts were broken when the ship was recovered. They were replaced with non-corrosive bolts that can adapt to the wood expansion due to temperature and humidity. Our guide showed us the non-corrosive bolts.

All of us got to touch a bit of Vasa ship. It feels smooth to the skin.

There was a short video clip on how the ship's works were carried out. Check out the funny long saw in the below photo. 

The lady in the film is Margareta, the wife who took over when her husband, the leader, passed away. It is great that women empowerment exists back then!

A scale of 1:10 of the ship.

The ship sank minutes into its voyage (to a war in Poland) as it sailed past the royal palace and a slightly strong wind rocked it. Main reasons were - 1) it had 64 cannon hatches which are many for a warship and the cannons were very heavy. 2) The hatches were open to show the cannons to the folk but little time to close them and water went in. 3) Insufficient stones at the base of the ship to stabilize it.

Those holes you see are the cannon hatches.

We went into a room that resembles the deck and to see a cannon replica. Of course, no one is allowed on the ship except the staff, of course. The ceiling was low because people back then were short. Saw wooden spoons that were brought and they were home-made. Food were porridge, pea soup, dried fish and dried bread.

There were 3 small displays on how the warship was recovered. 6 tunnels were dug under the ship to put cables that pull the ship up gradually. It was not an immediate pull because technology was not so advanced then. 

Right after the warship emerged from the waters, water and glycerin was sprayed onto it continuously (except for moments when people need to get on board). Fantastic history, eh? Now, I know why Vasamuseet is a must-go.

This is the beautiful sunset on the walk back home.