Vasa was intended to play a major role in the Swedish Navy, but fate decreed otherwise. After a maiden voyage of just 1,300 meters (4,265 feet) in relatively calm weather, the royal warship capsized in Stockholm’s inner harbor on August 10, 1628.
It was not until 1956 that a marine archaeologist’s persistent search led to the rediscovery of Vasa.
After a complex salvage operation followed by a 17-year conservation program, what has become one of the city’s most popular museums opened less than a nautical mile from the scene of the disaster. She is now to be seen with her complete lower rigging, adorned with more than 700 sculptures, about 95 original after 333 years on the bottom of the sea.
The Vasa Museum
Galärvarvsvägen 14, Djurgården
Tel: +46-8-519 548 00