Lödöse (), also known as Gamla Lödöse is a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

situated in

Lilla Edet Municipality Lilla Edet Municipality (''Lilla Edets kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Lilla Edet. The present municipality was formed in 1971, when the market town (''köping'') Lilla ...

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1 ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. It is situated 40 kilometers northeast of Gothenburg and is considered the precursor to modern-day

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

Gamla Lödöse

Lödöse was a politically crucial centre of trade in Sweden during the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. By the year 1000, Lödöse was an important trading town, located between modern-day

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and near the mouth of the

Göta river Göta is a Swedish given name, which is the female equivalent of Göte. It may refer to: *Göta Ljungberg (1893–1955), Swedish singer *Göta Pettersson (1926–1993), Swedish gymnast Other uses *Göta, Sweden *Göta älv, a river in Sweden *G ...

. It was the Geats' only port on the west coast: hence, it had great strategic importance. Until 1473, Lödöse was Sweden's only port with an exit to the North Sea. Trapped as it was between

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and Denmark, Lödöse was moved further down the river to Nya Lödöse, where the present day suburb Gamlestan in Gothenburg is today. In 1621, King

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...

decided the location of present-day

with direct access to the North Sea and Atlantic.

Modern Lödöse

Today, Lödöse is a small town with 1,300 inhabitants in

, 40 kilometers northeast of Gothenburg up the Göta älv. The medieval history of the town is displayed at the

Lödöse Museum Lödöse (), also known as Gamla Lödöse is a locality situated in Lilla Edet Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It is situated 40 kilometers northeast of Gothenburg and is considered the precursor to modern-day Gothenburg. Gamla ...

which opened in 1996. Lödöse had 1,266 inhabitants in 2010.

References

Other sources

*Järpe, Anna (1986) ''Nya Lödöse'' (Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet och Statens historiska museer)

External links

Lödöse Museum website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lodose Populated places in Västra Götaland County Populated places in Lilla Edet Municipality History of Gothenburg Archaeological sites in Sweden Geats Viking Age populated places Ports and harbours of Sweden

Gamla Lödöse

Modern Lödöse

See also

References

Other sources

External links