@trollnystan

6 months ago

To me, as a Swede who was even raised Catholic, hearing you say Sweden "used to be Catholic" is so weird to me 😆Sweden has been Protestant for so long and it is so ingrained in the national identity; the whole Protestant work ethic for example is still a huge thing here even though we are a pretty secular country nowadays. As to where you should visit... It's probably too late now as this video is six days old, but if you like churches then coming to my hometown Uppsala, which is only an hour or so north of Stockholm by train, might be fun as we have the tallest cathedral in Scandinavia. It also still has a lot of the old Catholic trimmings; for example, the tomb of King Gustav Vasa--considered the "father" of Sweden today--is in what used to be the chapel to the Virgin Mary and so it has a lovely blue ceiling with gold stars. Opposite the cathedral is Gustavianium, a museum that in it's cupola has the second-oldest surviving anatomical theatre (i.e. basically a place to dissect cadavers for students) in the world. However it's currently closed until 2024 for renovations ifaik. Old Uppsala was also an important political and religious centre in the Viking age, so there is a museum in Old Uppsala close to the three royal burial mounds that talks about the older parts of itys history. I'd also go to Gothenburg as it's a beautiful city, especially in the summer, and there's a fun amusement park there called Liseberg.

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