Attractions and Places To See in Uppsala - Top 20

The anatomy hall is really worth seeing and is worth the visit alone.

As early as the 13th century, a mill stood on the Fyrisån river at the site of today's Akademikvarnen on Kvarnholmen. A new mill building was constructed starting in 1766 and completed in 1768 with ten millstones. This mill was destroyed by fire in 1910. During its reconstruction, the waterwheels were replaced by turbines. The mill remained in operation until 1946. Between 1957 and 1959, the then very dilapidated Akademikvarnen was renovated to house the Upplandsmuseet (Upplands Museum), founded in 1909, which is still located in the mill today. Its collections comprise almost 800,000 objects, including 600,000 archaeological finds. ``` In Ingmar Bergman's 1982 film "Fanny and Alexander", the exterior of Akademikvarnen was used to represent the fictional "Biskopsgården".

The Gothic Uppsala Cathedral (Uppsala Domkyrka), consecrated in 1435, is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Uppsala, the parish church of the Uppsala Cathedral parish, and a national shrine of the Church of Sweden. It houses the relics of Sweden's national saint, Saint Erik, and a relic of Saint Bridget. The church is traditionally the coronation and burial church for Swedish kings and queens. Following a fire in the former cathedral (in Gamla Uppsala), the Pope granted permission in 1258 to move the bishopric to present-day Uppsala (then Östra Aros). The move to Domberget took place in 1273. Initially, the existing Saint Erik Chapel was used for services while French builders, under the direction of Etienne de Bonneuil, began constructing a new cathedral. The construction would continue for over a century and a half. The cathedral's towers are the tallest church towers in Scandinavia, reaching 118.7 meters. The most powerful of its five church bells, called Storan, weighs 7,360 kilograms, making it Sweden's largest church bell. The Church of Sweden estimates that around half a million people visit Uppsala Cathedral each year.

The Gunilla Bell, one of Uppsala's landmarks, was cast in 1588 and donated to the castle church by Queen Gunilla. It was recast in 1759. The inscription on the bell reads in Swedish: "Queen Gunnila had me cast in 1588. Under King Adolf Frederick, I was freed from my infirmity. In the year 1759." Since around 1700, the bell has been rung only once a day, at 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., a total of 151 times, to mark the beginning and end of the day. The ringing of the Gunilla Bell, along with the opening ceremony at the Carolina Rediviva, is a key event of the Walpurgis Night celebrations. At 9 p.m., the curator curatorum delivers the spring address to the students of Uppsala.

Designed by architect Carl Fredrik Sundvall, the Carolina Rediviva building (Latin for "the resurrected Carolina") is the main building of the University Library. It was dedicated in 1841. The name refers to the older university building, the Academia Carolina, which was demolished in 1778. Since a restructuring of the University Library in 1999, the Carolina Rediviva library has been known as the "Carolina Library." In the exhibition room in the entrance hall, one can see fragments of what is perhaps the library's most famous manuscript, the Silver Bible (Codex argenteus). This unique handwritten Gospel book, written in the now-extinct Gothic script, dates from the early 6th century.

The Church of the Holy Trinity (Helga Trefaldigets kyrka), immediately south of the cathedral, is probably the third church building on this site. The oldest part is the sacristy, which was added to an older wooden church at the end of the 13th century. In the 14th century, the present three-aisled basilica was built, with the lower part constructed of grey stone and the upper part of brick. At the end of the Middle Ages, perhaps in the 15th century, the sturdy but short church tower was erected. On the south side of the tower is an elaborately restored medieval sundial, which displays Swedish Standard Time (winter time). The rectory next to the church is a converted medieval tithe barn.

A unique feature of this building is the medical lecture hall, the "Anatomical Theater" (Theatrum anatomicum). The dome in the center of the building was constructed between 1662 and 1663. Medical professor Olof Rudbeck the Elder intended to perform dissections here before an audience of colleagues and students. The Anatomical Theater rises above the other roofs of the Gustavianum, allowing ample light to enter through its many windows. Its basic structure is modeled on the classical Greek amphitheater, but it is built at a significantly steeper angle and offers only standing room for spectators, enabling them to get as close as possible. The theater could accommodate 200 spectators. Rudbeck's lecture hall was long considered the most important theater of its kind in Europe. The hall still exists and is occasionally used for concerts, lectures, or other events.

The Gustavianum is the oldest surviving building of Uppsala University. It has housed the University Museum since 1997. After a five-year renovation, it reopened on June 24, 2024. Construction of this new, larger building, intended to supplement the teaching facilities of the Academia Carolina, began in 1622. It contained lecture halls, a printing press, a student dining room, student dormitories, and later, a library. With the demolition of the old Academia Carolina in 1778, the Gustavianum became the university's main building until the new university building was constructed in 1887.