Local Attractions

Uppsala is Sweden’s fourth largest city. It is situated 20 minutes away from the biggest airport, Arlanda, and 40 minutes away from the capital city, Stockholm. The trains to Stockholm depart at least once an hour.

Uppsala Cathedral, situated close to the town centre, is the largest cathedral in Scandinavia. Uppsala also has a Castle that was built in the 16th century. By tradition the Governor of Uppsala county lives there, but parts of the castle can be seen through a guided tour. In the castle you will also find the Uppsala Art Museum and across the road the Botanical Garden is situated.

All these historic buildings are situated within a five minute walk from Campus Engelska Parken (English Park Campus), the Centre of Humanities, at Uppsala University where the conference takes place.

The University of Uppsala is the oldest university in Scandinavia. It was founded in 1477, has about 40 000 students (20 000 full time) every year and about 2 000 doctoral students of which about 400 receive their PhDs every year. The university is ranked as Sweden’s best university and it is one of the top 100 in the world.

Uppsala also has the oldest research library in Sweden, Carolina Rediviva, founded in 1620. It holds a large collection of old, handwritten manuscripts and about 2 500 incunabula from the 15th century. It also holds the famous Codex Argentues, the Silver Bible, a 6th century manuscript of the Bible in the Gothic language. A part of it is on permanent display at the library.

Outside the town centre are many interesting and beautiful sites. Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala) is a historic site that was a religious centre as early as in the 3rd century. It is rich in archaeological remains from pre-history and famous for its three hills, Viking graves from the 6th century, as well as its old and beautiful church built from the 12th to the 15th century. It also became the first Archdiocese of Sweden in 1164.

Carl Linneaus, also known as Carl von Linné, lived in Uppsala in the 18th century. He is the world famous botanist who laid the foundation for the modern formal system of naming specific species. 2007 was the big Linneus year in Uppsala. It was then 300 years since he was born, and the huge festivities included a visit from the Imperial family of Japan.

Linneaus home and garden downtown central Uppsala can be visited, as well as his summer residence Hammarby outside Uppsala.

During the conference there will be a guided tour to Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala) and Linnés Hammarby (Linneaus’ Hammarby) on the Sunday.

More information on Uppsala can be found at the following web sites:

Uppsala Tourism (Information on Uppsala in English)

A slide show about Uppsala



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