Province: Gavleborgs Ian. Region: Medelpad. Altitude: sea level. Population: 93,000.
HOTELS. Strandhotel, Strandgatan 10, 1 66 OK Motor Hotell, Esplanaden 29, 296 Continental, RSdhusgatan 1 3, 50 Esso Motel Liz, Kustvagen 51, 70 Sjdfartshotellet, Sjogatan 11, 60 Baltic, Sjogatan 5, 35 b.
Sundsvall is one of the most important ports and commercial towns in the northern countries. It lies between two hills, the Norra Stads-berg and the Sodra Stadsberg, at the mouth of the Selangera, halfway up the Gulf of Bothnia. It is an oil port and known for its wood-working and papermaking industries.
Due to its excellent location and the trade routes tothe W which passed through this area, Sundsvall was an important trading post as early as the 6th c. It received its charter from Gustavus Adolphus in 1 624. A period of prosperity began in the 1 9th c. when numerous sawmills were established here: for a time there were no fewer than 40 operating on the offshore island of Alno alone. The layout of the old town was the work of Tessin the Elder, but whole districts of the town were destroyed by a devastating fire in 1 888 and only Norrmalm remained unscathed. To avoid any further disasters of this kind, the new town was built of stone, with wide streets; it is now known as Stenstaden, the stone town.
SIGHTS. Around the Stora Torg a great variety of architectural styles are represented. In the middle of the square is a bronze statue of Gustavus Adolphus, on its S side stands the Town Hall. At Storgatan 29 is the Municipal Museum’, beyond this the neo-Gothic Gustav Adolfskyrka (1894), which contains wood-carvings by Ivar Lindekrantz. In the Esplanade, the town’s other main street, it is worth visiting the Hirsch House. In a small park in the middle of the town is a lake, the Bunsowska Tjarn. From the town’s two hills, Sodra Stadsberget (240 m 790 ft) and Norra Stadsberget, there are fine views. On Norra Stadsberget is an open-air museum, Medelpads Fornhem, with wooden houses from the Medelpad region (restaurant).
SURROUNDINGS. On the island of Alno, reached by a road bridge 1024 m (1100 yds) long and 40 m (130 ft) high, is a fine 1 3th c. stone church (2 km (H miles) N of Alvik), with vivid wall paintings and sculpture; the church is one of the major sights of the Sundsvall area. The new church (1896) has one o, Sweden’s great treasures of religious art, a carved wooden font (12th13th c.). At the SE tip of the island lies the attractive little fishing village of Spikarna, with the popular Vindheim summer restaurant.
Harnosand (Stadshotellet, 137 Esso Motor Hotel, 112 b.), a port at the mouth of the Angermanalv, was formerly an important trading and market town, chartered in 1 585. In the 17th and 1 8th c. it was the administrative and cultural hub of Upper Norrland. It has been the see of a bishop since 1772.
The old town on the island of Harno is reached from the mainland by the Nybrogata. The Town Hall (1 791), with a circular portico by Olof Tempelmann, is one ofthe town’s finest buildings. The neo-classical Cathedral (Ludwig Hawerman, 1 846; restored 1 935) has a fine Baroque organ-case and 17th c. chandeliers. In the Municipal Park is a statue by Carl Milles of Mikael Franzen, who was bishop of Harnosand from 1 831 to 1847 and a poet of some reputation. W of the Cathedral is the Market Square, with the old 18th c. Governor’s Residence (Lans-residens). To the N of the Nybro, on the Murberg, an open-air museum, the largest in Sweden after Stockholm’s Skansen, contains farmhouses and cottages reflecting the old peasant culture of Norrland. From the Vardkasberg (175 m 575 ft; restaurant) there are extensive views of the surrounding countryside and the coast. 6 km (4 miles) SE of the old town is the bathing beach of Smitingsviken.
Hudiksvall (pop. 15,000; Stadshotellet, 120 Hudik Hotel, 55 b.), a port and woodworking town on the Hudiksvallfjard, is the oldest town in Norrland after Gavle (chartered in 1582) and the oldest foundation built by the Vasa kings. In the past, the town was frequently ravaged by fire.
Fiskarstaden, an old-world quarter of wooden houses around the harbour, was rebuilt after a fire in 1 792; it is the best-preserved part of the town. The church is 1 7th1 8th c. Also of interest is the 1 9th c. Hant-verksgardens Hus, with a richly decorated facade on Storgata an early example of a specially designed store front. Nearby is the Halsingemuseum, with a rich collection of material on local history and traditions and a picture gallery of works by Swedish artists. The Theatre (1 881, restored 1 972) is in a beautiful park by the Lillfjard. To the E of the town is the Kopmanberg. with a park and restaurant. 3 5 km (2 miles) NW of Hudiksvall is the medieval church of Halsingtuna, with an old grave chamber.
Sundsvall Sweden Map Photo Gallery
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