Birka the Viking Town

About Birka, the Viking Town

Birka is situated at the island of Björkö outside Stockholm.

The viking town of Birka was founded in the late 8th century by the Swedish king as a trading port i the Lake Mälaren west of Stockholm.

For 200 years Birka was an important trading center for the vikings, and modern times archeological excavations have revealed silver, coins and pearls from Arabic as well as Russian regions.

The Birka viking society could be referred to as one of Swedens first towns, with close to 1,000 viking inhabitants as well as foreigners from distant countries.

Birka was abandoned by the end of the 9th century, and there are several theories why. One is that the town of Sigtuna was founded at that time and soon became a political center. Another factor might be the rising land levels (a phenomena due to the ice age that still continuos today) which made the access a bit more dificult.

The Birka Museum displays a reconstructed Viking settlement and offers guided tours.

Birka at Flickr

Videos from Birka

Birka the viking town that archeologists recently excavated near modern-day Stockholm. The video clips come from footage that Swedish filmmakers Mikael Agaton and Lars Rengfelt shot of a 1:30 scale model of Birka now housed in the Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm.

Film from Björkö in Lake Mälaren, Sweden on June 23rd 2009. At Björkö was a Viking Trading place called Birka, which now is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.