Ystad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ystad | |
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  Ystad
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | Sweden |
| Municipality | Ystad Municipality |
| County | Skåne County |
| Province | Skåne |
| Area [1] | |
| - Total | 7.92 km² (3.1 sq mi) |
| Population (2005-12-31)[1] | |
| - Total | 17,286 |
| - Density | 2,182/km² (5,651.4/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
Ystad is a city with a population of 17,286 (2005) in the traditional province Scania (Skåne), Sweden and the seat of Ystad Municipality, Skåne County, in the southernmost part of the country.
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[edit] History
In the 13th century, the foundation of a town was established at the mouth of the Vassån, a small river. The monastery Gråbrödraklostret, of the Franciscan order, was finished in the middle of that century.
[edit] Today
Some of the main industries of the town are trade, handicraft and tourism. It is considered one of the best preserved cities in the Scania province, and few cities in Sweden can measure up to its old picturesque houses and street network.
The town has two large medieval churches: The Church of Saint Peter (also known as Klostret) and the Church of the Virgin Mary (Mariakyrkan), both highly influenced by the gothic Hansa architecture that can be seen in churches around the Baltic Sea, for instance in Helsingborg, Malmö and Rostock.
Ystad is known internationally as the setting for many of the novels of Henning Mankell, featuring fictional Ystad police inspector Kurt Wallander.
There are frequent ferries to Bornholm, Denmark and to Świnoujście in Poland. The town has train connections with Malmö, Simrishamn and Copenhagen.
[edit] The name
In 1285 the name was written Ystath. It is not fully interpreted, but probably the "y" has something to do with an old word for the yew tree [2], -stad is town, or rather place. In Danish times before 1658 the spelling was Ysted.
[edit] Sports
The most popular sport in Ystad is handball, with two big clubs. Ystads IF is located in the highest Swedish national league (Elitserien, as of 2008) whilst IFK Ystad is situated in the league below (Division 1, as of 2008). Through the years several famous handball players have played for either of these clubs, the most famous one problaby being Per Carlén.
[edit] Newspapers
The only newspaper active in Ystad is the Ystads Allehanda which is also covering the neighbouring municipalities of Skurup, Tomelilla, Simrishamn and Sjöbo. The newspaper was founded in1873[3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km2 2000 och 2005 (xls) (Swedish). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
- ^ Svenskt ortnamnslexikon, 2003
- ^ Ystads Allehanda site
[edit] External links
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Ystad is one of 134 towns with the historical City status in Sweden. |
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