Fyrisån (, "the Fyris river") is a river in the Swedish province of

Uppland Uppland is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The name literally ...

, which passes through the city of

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

and ends in Lake Mälaren. The "Sala" river in Uppland was changed in the 17th century in memory of the

Fyrisvellir Fyrisvellir, Fyris Wolds, or Fyrisvallarna, was the marshy plain (''vellir'') south of Gamla Uppsala where travellers had to leave the ships on the river Fyris (Fyrisån) and walk to the Temple at Uppsala and the hall of the Swedish king. Etymo ...

battle, mentioned in the Icelandic sagas, as it was the belief that the marshy plains called "Föret" was the site of the famous Battle of Fýrisvellir in the late 10th century. Boats can sail up the river from Lake Mälaren all the way to central Uppsala where two

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s make further progress impossible. In the summer of 2007, the construction of a fish ladder began to enable the asp, an endangered and potamodromous fish, to pass the weirs and reach its

spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

waters. On the last day of April every year, during The Uppsala River Rafting Event, students attempt to navigate the weirs on homemade rafts with predictable results.

References

{{reflist Uppland Rivers of Uppsala County Norrström basin