Vasamuseet, Stockholm

Vasamuseet is a maritime museum built around the warship Vasa, which you can see preserved inside the main hall. This is the almost completely intact seventeenth-century vessel that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628, carrying 64 guns. The ship was recovered in 1961, after lying underwater for centuries, and the museum opened on 15 June 1990.

You can view Vasa from six levels, from the keel up to the sterncastle, while displays explain how the ship was made, why it sank, and how it was brought back. Look at the replacement timber against the original wood: the newer pieces remain visibly untreated and unpainted, while the old material has darkened during its long time underwater. The building itself was designed by Marianne Dahlbäck and Göran Månsson after their proposal, called Ask, won the architectural competition.

Its large copper roof carries stylized masts that match the height of Vasa when fully rigged. Outside, four museum ships are moored in the harbour: the icebreaker Sankt Erik, the lightvessel Finngrundet, the torpedo boat Spica, and the rescue boat Bernhard Ingelsson.