Wik Castle

Vik Castle (Viks slott) is situated in Uppsala municipality and Balingsta district in Uppsala County, in the historical province of Uppland, Sweden. The name of the castle is sometimes spelled Wik or Wijk, which is a spelling according to older Swedish spelling rules.

The castle was constructed in the 15th century, in the manner of a large tower house, near the community of Balingsta. Historically, it was part of the Hagunda hundred (härad), which spanned part of the territory of today's Enköping Municipality and Uppsala Municipality (kommun), both of which lie in the modern day Uppsala County (län). The castle's principal building materials were stone and brick.

The castle grounds include several other historically valuable structures. The castle underwent several renovation efforts during the 19th century, some of which were based on plans prepared by Swedish architect Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander (1816-1881). Vik Castle was declared a Swedish national monument on 3 December 1982.

Vik Castle was the birthplace of Svante Arrhenius, winner of the 1903 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

In 1973 and 1974, the castle's interiors were used for recording Antik Musik På Wik ('Early Music at Wik'), an album of medieval and Renaissance music performed by the Swedish period music ensemble Joculatores Upsalienses. The album was published by Swedish record label BIS in 1974.

Currently, the castle serves primarily as a conference centre, and also offers accommodation, with up to 86 beds for visitors. Vik is generally considered to be the best-preserved medieval castle in Sweden.

Text adapted from “Vik Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Wik Castle ranks #2,823 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #68 of the 206 mapped in Sweden. Founded 1450, it is older than 49% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 454 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,479 times in the last 60 days, more than 72% of the atlas. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Uppsala, 16 km away. See how Sweden compares in the castle statistics.

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