Lund Sweden Map

Province: Malmohus Ian. Region: Sk3ne.

Altitude: 92 m (300 ft). Population: 77,000.

Postal code: S-22 . .. Telephone code: 0 45.

Lunds Turisttrafikforeningen,

St Petrikyrkogatan 4,

S-22221 Lund; tel. 12 45 90.

HOTELS. Lundia, Knut den Stores Gata 2, 145 Sparta, Tunavagen 39, 250 b. (June-August).

Lund, located about 20 km (12 miles) NE of the large port of Malmo in the southern Swedish region of SkSne, is a university town (University founded 1666, college of technology) and the see of a bishop.

Lund Cathedral

From the 12th to the 15th c. it was the largest town in Scandinavia and the see of a Danish archbishop, known as the Metropolis Daniae.

To the N of the Cathedral lies the Lundagard, a park which features prominently in the life of the University. At the SE corner is the Historical Museum (prehistoric and ecclesiastical antiquities). The Lundagardshus or Kungshus in the park, now occupied by the University, was built in the second half of the 1 6th c. as a residence for the Danish king Frederik II. King Charles XII of Sweden is said to have ridden up the oak spiral staircase when he took up his quarters in Lund on returning from his campaigns on the Continent. At the end of Sandgatan, to the N, are the Bishop’s Paiace and beyond it the University Library, which contains old 12th c. manuscripts and some 2,500,000 volumes in all fields of knowledge. Adjoining the Library is the largest hospital complex in Sweden, to the E of it the College of Technology and to the NE the Zoological Museum. To the SE, along Solvegatan, is the Archive of Decorative Art, where visitors can follow the development of a work of art from the first sketch to the finished article.

SIGHTS. In the middle of the town is the Stortorg, with the modern Town Hall. To the N stands the Cathedral, the oldest and finest Romanesque church in Sweden, founded about 1080 by the Danish king Knut den Helige (St Canute). The present building dates from the 12th the twin towers, popularly known as the lads of Lund (Lunaa pSga), were once a prominent landmark. The Cathedral now stands in the heart of the town a reminder of the fact that Lund was once the oldest archiepiscopal see in Scandinavia, with 27 churches and 8 religious houses.

INTERIOR of the Cathedral. The magnificently carved reredos was the work of a 14th c. North German master. The completely preserved choir-stalls, also finely carved, date from the 1 5th c. and were originally made for the monks of the monastery to which the church belonged. Mosaic figure of Christ (by Joakim Skovgaard, 1925) in the apse. In the crypt are the tombs of Archbishop Birger (d. 1519) and Archbishop Herman. The fountain, with satirical inscriptions in Low German, was the work of a Westphalian master named van Duren who lived in Lund from 1 512 to 1 527. The roof of the crypt rests on stone piers. The carved figures on the piers are said to represent the giant Finn who, according to legend, built the Cathedral for St Lawrence. In the aisle is the famous 14th c. Astronomical Clock, with figures which emerge and perform twice daily (at 12 noon and 3 p.m. on weekdays, 1 and 3 p.m. on Sundays).