Sala is a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

and the seat of Sala Municipality in

Västmanland County Västmanland County () is a Counties of Sweden, county or ''län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Södermanland County, Södermanland, Örebro County, Örebro, Gävleborg County, Gävleborg, Dalarna County, Dalarna and Uppsala Coun ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. As of 2010, it has a population of 12,289. Sala is the home of several famous places and people, but it is most known for its

silver mine Silver mining is the extraction of silver by mining. Silver is a precious metal and holds high economic value. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires the use of complex technologies. In ...

, which today is a popular tourist attraction. The Sagån River flows south through the locality, en route to

Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is and its greatest depth is 64 m (210 ft). Mälaren spans from east to west. The l ...

Silver mine

The small town is best known for the historic Sala Silver Mine (Sala ''silvergruva''), which is located about southwest of the town. It dates back to at least

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times, and was in operation until 1908. In 1624, the town of Sala was moved to its current location close to the mine, receiving its

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

from King

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

. The silver was important for Sweden's economy and the base for

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

production. A total of 400

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

s of silver was extracted, and 40,000 tonnes of

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

; with at most 3-5 tonnes of silver during a year. The mine eventually reached a depth of , and a total heading length of .

Amenities

The main streets, in terms of retail outlets, are Drottninggatan (which begins at ''stora torget'' — the town square — and runs west to Ekebygatan) and Bergsmansgatan (which begins at ''stora torget'' and runs east to Kålgårdsgatan). The spa town of

Sätra brunn Sätra brunn is a spa town in Sala Municipality, Västmanland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the ...

, about from Sala, is another important place for the town.

Måns Ols Utvärdshus

Måns Ols Utvärdshus is a restaurant on the southeastern shore of Långforsen, a reservoir to the northwest of Sala's centre. The location was originally a dust keeper's home, and its first resident was Måns Olsson, who worked at the silver mine between 1709 and 1748. The building's purpose evolved, and from around 1791 it began serving food and drink. Starting in the summer seasons from the late 19th century, the venue played host to carnivals, performances and competitions. The current building was erected in the 1960s.

Transportation

Sala's bus and train station is located on Stationsplan, a short semi-circular road off Väsbygatan. About 35 trains from

Stockholm Central Station Stockholm Central Station (), is the main Train station, railway station in Stockholm, and largest railway station in Sweden in terms of passenger numbers and train traffic. It is located in the Norrmalm district of central Stockholm on Vasagat ...

(either directly or indirectly) arrive at the station each day, with around 40 making the return trip. The three high-speed SJ Snabbtåg trips take about one hour and twenty minutes. Journeys on SJ InterCity trains take a similar amount of time and run seven times a day. The slower SJ Regionaltåg trains take just over two hours but make around 20 trips from the capital. There is one SJ Tåg i Bergslagen, which departs Stockholm at 22:14 and is direct to Sala. The SJ trains that pass through terminate at either Stockholm, Linköping, Falun, Mora (once per day), Uppsala or Västerås. Sala's airfield, ''Salanda flygfält'', is located just east of highway 56, between Norrkivsta and Kumlaby. It is the home of Salaorten Flying Club (''Salaorten Flygklubb''), which flies

Ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

UL-B aircraft of type Atec Zephyr.

Climate

Sala has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

influenced by both its inland position but also frequent maritime winds reaching the town, moderating winter averages compared to what would be expected for an inland location on its latitude.

Sport

Sala's football club, Sala FF, play in Division 3 Södra Norrland in Sweden's fifth tier. They were founded in December 1972, when IF Norden and IFK Sala merged. Their former home was Silvervallen, but they now play at the sports fields on Sportfältsgatan. The first

floorball Floorball (also known by other names) is a sport played with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. It is played indoors with sticks and a hollow plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three periods. The sport of bandy also playe ...

club in the world, Sala IBK, was founded in Sala 1979.Innebandyns födelse
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Notable people

The impressionist painter

Ivan Aguéli Ivan Aguéli (born John Gustaf Agelii; May 24, 1869 – October 1, 1917), also named Shaykh ʿAbd al-Hādī al-ʿAqīlī () upon his conversion to Islam, was a Swedish wandering Sufi, painter and author. As a devotee of Ibn Arabi, his metaphysi ...

was born in Sala in 1869. There is a small museum and a park dedicated to his memory in the centre of the town. Sala is also the domicile of the former Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Deputy Prime Minister

Lena Hjelm-Wallén Lena Birgitta Hjelm-Wallén (born 14 January 1943) is a Swedish politician. In 1968 Hjelm-Wallén became a member of the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) and she held several cabinet positions, starting in 1974 as the youngest minister to that date. A ...

. She held several ministerial posts in the Social Democratic government in the 1980s and 1990s and has, despite her career in politics, remained in Sala and is still active in local life.

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player Erik Ersberg was born here. British horror and thriller writer

Steven Savile Steven Savile (born 12 October 1969) is a British fantasy, horror and thriller writer and editor living in Sweden. His published work includes novels and numerous short stories in magazines and anthologies. Career Steven Savile started out ...

lives in Sala.

International relations

Sala is twinned with: *

Kristinestad Kristinestad (; ; ; ) is a town in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Kristinestad is situated in Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Kristinestad is approximately , while the sub-region has a population o ...

, Finland

References

External links

Sala Allehanda news site
{{authority control Populated places established in 1624 Municipal seats of Västmanland County Swedish municipal seats Populated places in Sala Municipality, Sweden 1624 establishments in Sweden