The Vasa Museum

On of the most extraordinary museums in Europe, the Vasa Museum is home to the royal flagship Vasa. Built to fight the kingdom of Poland in the early 1600s, it sank in Stockholm harbor before it could ever engage another ship. More than 300 years later it was successfully raised, preserved and restored by Swedish divers and scientists.

	The Vasa is so large you can't photograph the whole thing at once. It's also so dark in the museum you need to take very long exposures.		The forward section of the ship.
	The aft of the ship is decorated with ornate carvings, including an image of the Swedish king being crowned as a boy.		Closer details of the aft carvings.
	Details of statues.		Visitors can view the ship from bottom to top on seven floors.
	A view of the cannon deck.		Close-up of the cannon doors.
	You can see the Vasa had an enormous number of cannons at its disposal.		Scientists originally thought the cannon doors might have been buffeted by high waves during a storm, causing the ship to sink. But thanks to the salvage operation they discovered the disaster was actually caused by an inadequate amount of ballast.
	A view of the ship from the top floor of the museum.
	The aft of the ship.		The masts are rigged for the winter, without their sails on display.