Sweden. Bjorko Island

Björko (Bjorko) Island on Lake Malaren is the location of the Viking village Birka. It is now a UNESCO-protected area with a museum and excursions for tourists.

Birka, the first Swedish city, was founded around 760 AD to increase influence as well as control trade in the region. Located on the trade route, the village was attractive to traders and craftsmen. For trade on the Bjorko Island The city's population soon grew to 700 people. Soon its population reached 700, and protective stone bastions were erected. The first Christian church was also built on Björko after the monk Ansgar arrived on the island from the Holy Roman Empire in 830 to convert the local pagan Vikings to Christianity.

The island of Bjorko was not only a trading but also a military center of the Vikings. From here there were short raids on the coast, as well as long campaigns in which the Vikings reached the Dnieper, the Don, the Volga, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

The exact reasons why the Vikings left Birka are unknown, but in the tenth century it was abandoned by them, and its place as a trading and military center in the area was taken by the city of Sigtuna. This may have been due to land uplift, which made it difficult for ships to pass from the Baltic Sea to Lake Malaren.

During the excavations on the island, the largest early Viking cemetery (3,000 burials) was discovered. In addition, the ruins of the fort and the harbor were excavated.

In the Birka Museum you can see exhibits discovered during excavations, as well as reconstructions and models of everyday life of the people of Birka. There are models and models of early Viking life, for example, a model of a ship with figures of fishermen or a model of the Council of Elders building, a model of a fortress defense and a fairly complete model of an early Viking village with figures of soldiers and peasants.

Nearby the museum is a stylized village of the early Vikings who inhabited the island of Bjorko. It is a modern reconstruction where you can see the traditional Viking huts, usually consisting of one room and built of tightly fitting vertical logs or woven from vines and covered with clay. The roofs of these structures are covered with peat or thatch, and inside there is a hearth and several thatched beds. A small cove has been created near the village in which the rooks of the early Vikings are anchored, also recreated by historians.