Hjo () 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 ...

and the seat of

Hjo Municipality Hjo Municipality (''Hjo kommun'') is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the stad (Sweden), city of Hjo. The municipality was created in 1971, when the ''City of Hjo'' was ...

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. It had 6,094 inhabitants in 2010. The town is located on the west coast of

Vättern Vättern ( , ) is the second largest lake by surface area in Sweden, after Vänern, and the sixth largest lake in Europe. It is a long, finger-shaped body of fresh water in south central Sweden, to the southeast of Vänern, pointing at the tip ...

Etymology

The place is named after Hjoån 'Hjo river'. The meaning of the river name ''Hjo'' is probably 'muddy'. The way the name is spelled have been changed many times. Some of the previous ways of spelling the name has been Hyo, Hio, Hiyo and Hioo.

History

Hjo is known to have had a charter as early as 1413. Hjo is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''city''. Statistics Sweden, however, only counts localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities. Many wooden towns have suffered fires, but Hjo has been relatively spared, apart from when the church and some adjacent houses burnt down in 1794. The city structure is therefore almost exactly the same as in

medieval times 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 an ...

. Hjo works together with the cities of

Eksjö Eksjö is a locality and the seat of Eksjö Municipality in Jönköping County, Sweden, with 9,701 inhabitants in 2010. History The city of Eksjö most likely appeared sometime in the Middle Ages when it was the centre for the '' thing'', a regi ...

and

Nora Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to: * Nora (name), a feminine given name People with the surname * Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer * Pierre Nora (born 1931), French historian Places Australia * Norah Head, New South Wales, headlan ...

to develop wooden towns as

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

attractions, under the joint name "Three wooden towns" (''Tre trästäder''). In the year 2013, the city celebrated the town's 600th anniversary.

Tourist attractions

The steamship S/S ''Trafik'' is one of the oldest steamships in Sweden. In the summer, it goes on small trips, such as trips to

Visingsö Visingsö is an island in the southern half of Lake Vättern in Sweden. Visingsö lies north of the city Jönköping and west of Gränna from which two car ferries connect the island. The island is long and wide, with a total area of . Ac ...

, the biggest island in

. Estrid Ericson, founder of Swedish interior decorating company Svenskt Tenn, grew up in Hjo, where her father ran a hotel. Guldkroksbadet is a free entry outdoor bath containing 3 pools, the largest one measures 50 by 25 meters. There is also two smaller ones for children. Guldkroksbadet also has a beach where you can swim in the lake.

References

Populated lakeshore places in Sweden Populated places in Västra Götaland County Populated places in Hjo Municipality Municipal seats of Västra Götaland County Swedish municipal seats {{VästraGötaland-geo-stub