Vasa Museum

The Vasa Museum, the most visited museum in Scandinavia	The Swedish warship Vasa sank in Stockholm Harbor on its maiden voyage in 1628	1/10 scale model of the Vasa under sail	Model of the Vasa as it begins to capsize
Two gundecks made the ship top-heavy and unstable	The maiden voyage was less than 1 mile	Diving suit of the 1950s & 60s	The wreck landed upright on the harbor floor in 32m of water
The Vasa was rediscovered in 1956	The Vasa was partially raised in 1959 and taken to shallower water where the hull was repaired	The Vasa was raised to the surface in 1961	The Vasa has been housed in the current museum since 1990
Model of the Vasa with sails set	1:10 scale model of the Vasa with sails set	Model of the Vasa showing what the original colors might have been	Colored model of the stern of the Vasa
The upper transom of the 1:10 model, the most decorated part of the ship	Colored model of the stern of the Vasa with the captain's cabin	The model makes it clear to see how the Vasa could have been top-heavy	Vasa Museum
Lion Figurehead of the Vasa	Front view of the Vasa	Light through open gunport on the Vasa	Wood carvings of Roman Emperors on the port bow (beakhead) of the Vasa
Port bow and bowsprit of the Vasa	Carvings next to the opening for the anchor cable, port side of the Vasa	Musketport and gunport, Vasa	Warriors of King David on the port stern quarter of the Vasa
The Warriors of King David, Vasa	Warrior of King David on the port side lower quarter gallery	Aft of the Vasa with the rudder and stern chasers	Arms of the Vasa Dynasty on the stern between the captain's cabin windows
Sculpture of Hercules on the port side of the stern	Painted reproductions of sculptures from the Vasa	Arms of the Vasa Dynasty illustrate the ship's name as a vase (bundle of sticks) held by cherubs	Painted reproductions of sculptures from the Vasa
Painted reproduction of the port side Roman Warrior	Sculptures on the starboard stern of the Vasa	Top of the rudder and stern chaser gun ports of the Vasa	Rudder of the Vasa
Starboard stern galleries decorated with sculptures	Detail of sculptures on the starboard stern galleries of the Vasa	Startboard stern gallery with a gunport and the aft mast	The Vasa's main armament consisted of 46 24-pound guns
Roaring lions on the gunport proclaimed the king's power	Looking through a gunport to see the base of the mast passing through the gundeck	The Vasa's 46 24-pound naval guns were distributed across 2 gun decks	When the ship was anchored, the heavy anchor cable was belayed to the Anchor Bitts
Foremast of the Vasa - only the lowest of the 3 segments survived	Starboard bow with the bowsprit of the Vasa	Gunport of the starboard bowchaser, Vasa	Bow of the Vasa
Royal Lion Figurehead holding the bundle of sticks, vase in Swedish, from which the ship is named	Levels of the Vasa Museum, Stockholm	The bases of the shrouds - the ropes that support the masts	Starboard side of the Vasa
Sculpture of a Roman Warrior, Vasa	The Lion Figurehead of the Vasa was carved by Mårten Redtmer	Front quarter view of the Vasa	Starboard side of the Vasa
Stern gallery with sculptures and a musket port	Small gun port for muskets	Sculpture of a Nordic Wildman, 4 on each side of the Vasa	Narrow deck of the Vasa with the main mast
Starboard side of the Vasa	Hatches and Capstan of the Vasa	Capstan, used as a winch to raise the anchor	Shrouds of the forward mast of the Vasa
Bow of the Vasa with the Roman Warrior and starboard cathead	Starboard Roman Warrior sculpture, Vasa	Forward starboard side of the Vasa	10 Roman Emperors from Tiberius to Septimius Severus decorate the each side of the bow of the Vasa
One of 10 the Roman Emperors from the Bow of the Vasas	Carving of the Polish Enemy trapped under the cathead on the bow	Polish nobleman Jakob Sobieski, similar in appearance to the carving of the Polish Enemy	Painted reproduction of one of the Wildmen of the Vasa
Painted reproduction of one of the Wildmen of the Vasa	Painted reproduction of one of the Wildmen of the Vasa	The Vasa, 69m (226 ft) long and 52.5m (172ft) tall	The Vasa, constructed 1626-1628
Some of the missing parts of the Vasa were replaced with modern wood during restoration	King Gustav II Adolph, Gustav the Great, Lion of the North (r. 1611-1632)	Lion figurehead of the Vasa	The Vasa had a crew of 145 sailors and 300 soldiers
Shrouds leading to the Crow's Nest at the top of the	The superstructure is built high to be a firing platform	Hercules, draped in lion skin, from the stern of the Vasa	Painted reproduction of the Roman Warrior from the port bow of the Vasa
King Gustavus II Adolphus as triumphant Roman General, D.K. Ehrenstrahl	Roof of the starboard lower aft quarter gallery	Nereids and tritons decorating the starboard lower quarter gallery	Reproduction of the starboard Hercules
Hercules from the Starboard side of the Vasa	Figure from the starboard lower quarters gallery	Starboard lower quarter gallery and part of the stern of the Vasa	Knights in armor on the stern representing the King's ancestors
Knights in armor on the stern representing the King's ancestors	The ship's name, Vasa, represented by the bundle of sticks held by cherubs flanked by knights in armor	National Coat-of-Arms of Sweden on the upper transom of the stern of the Vasa	Coronation of Gustav II Adolf with griffons symbolizing King Karl IX, his father
Cherub to the left of the coat-of-arms of Sweden	Cherub to the left of the coat-of-arms of Sweden	"Grotesque" mask on the stern below the coat-of-arms	King David on the port stern post, Vasa
Guide to the sculptures on the stern of the Vasa	Highly decorated stern of the Vasa	Swedish coat-of-arms on the stern of the Vasa flanked by lions	Top of the upper transom with the coronation of King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden
Closer view of the coronation of Gustav II Adolph on the stern of the Vasa	Port quartering view of the stern of the Vasa	Coat-of-Arms of the Vasa Dynasty flanked by armored figures representing the King's ancestors	Stern and aft port galleries, Vasa
Port side of the Vasa looking forward	Port upper and lower stern galleries of the Vasa	Artist's impression of the Vasa under full sail with flags flying	Walkways all around the ship allow the Vasa to be viewed from multiple levels
Top of the upper transom with the coronation of King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden	Closer view of the coronation of Gustav II Adolph on the stern of the Vasa	National coat-of-arms of Sweden on the stern of the vasa supported by lions	Stern of the Vasa from the top viewing deck
Stern of the Vasa from the top viewing deck	Panorama from the top level showing the other floors of the Vasa Museum	After quartering view of the port side of the Vasa from the upper viewing deck	Stern and port quarter galleries of the Vasa
Rending of the Vasa with the 7 levels of the museum, with the waterline on the 4th level	Looking up at the stern of the Vasa from the lowest level	Model of the Stockholm shipyards with Tre Kronor Castle	From the ground floor looking up at the port after quarter galleries of the Vasa
Port bow of the Vasa with sculptures of the Roman Emperors and port bow chaser gun port	Relief map of Scandinavia and the Baltic, Vasa Museum	Midship cross section of the Vasa with 2 gun decks, 2 lower decks and ballast	Tre Kronor Castle, Stockholm