Current Time in Uppsala, Sweden

Uppsala is a historic city in eastern Sweden, the capital of Uppsala County, situated on the Fyris River about 70 kilometers north of Stockholm. The fourth-largest city in Sweden, Uppsala is the country's preeminent university city, home to Uppsala University — the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477 — and is a city of great historical, cultural, and intellectual importance that has profoundly shaped Swedish civilization across five centuries.

With a population of approximately 240,000, Uppsala is one of Sweden's fastest-growing cities, driven primarily by the expansion of the university, the academic hospital, and the biotech and pharmaceutical industries that have clustered around them. The city has a youthful, dynamic character — about a third of its population are students — and a cultural life that belies its relative distance from the capital. Uppsala is closely connected to Stockholm by frequent commuter trains (about 40 minutes), and many Stockholm residents live in Uppsala or commute between the two cities.

Uppsala was the religious and political capital of Sweden for centuries before Stockholm assumed that role. The Uppsala Cathedral (Domkyrkan), the largest church in Scandinavia, was begun in 1270 and is built in the French High Gothic style. Its 118-meter towers dominate the city's skyline and can be seen for miles around. The cathedral contains the tombs of King Gustav Vasa, Saint Erik (patron saint of Sweden), and the botanist Carl Linnaeus, among other significant Swedish historical figures. The cathedral's treasury and its medieval silver collections are among the finest in Scandinavia.

Uppsala University's historic buildings — the Gustavianum (the original university building, now a museum with an anatomical theater from 1663 still intact), the Carolina Rediviva library (with its remarkable collection of medieval manuscripts including the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century Gothic Bible), and the University Main Building — are clustered along the ridge above the Fyris River. The Botanical Garden and the university's museum collections are further academic attractions. The name of Carl Linnaeus, the 18th-century scientist who established the modern system of biological taxonomy, is inseparable from Uppsala — his home at Hammarby and the Linnaeus Garden, the oldest botanical garden in Sweden, are both preserved as museums.

Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala), a few kilometers north of the city, was the ancient religious and political center of the kingdom, known for its three large Viking-age burial mounds (Kungshögarna) and the site of a pagan temple described by medieval chroniclers. The small Romanesque church at the site incorporates material from an earlier cathedral and stands amid one of the most atmospheric archaeological landscapes in Scandinavia.

Uppsala is served by frequent SJ and commuter trains from Stockholm Central station. The city has a comprehensive bus network and a growing cycling infrastructure. Uppsala Airport has limited domestic services.

Uppsala is a city of intellectual tradition and historical depth, where the roots of modern Swedish culture — in science, religion, and law — can be explored in a setting of great architectural beauty and academic vitality.