The city has the advantage of being a major city with all that it entails yet retaining the cozy quiet small town feel, largely due to the lack of high buildings (a result of the military airfield just outside the city).
Understand
Linköping is the clerical and administrative centre in a rich farmland district, the province and county Östergötland.
In the "battle of Stångebro" in 1598, the city fought on the Catholic side and lost. A memorial of the following "bloodbath of Linköping" is found outside the city hall.
Get in
By plane
By train
The Linköping train station (Resecentrum) lies just ten minutes walk from the center of the town.
By car
Get around
Bus
All buslines originate at Resecentrum. You'll also find a reception desk there where you can find timetables or get help.
Taxi
Taxis are on the expensive side. The meter is used to control the cost but always make sure that this is set when commencing a journey.
See
Museums
Do
Buy
Getting Online
Eat
Drink
Coffee
There are many nice coffee houses and cafes by the main square and in the central parts of the city. They serve a wide variety of coffee. Sweden and the Swedes are the second highest consumers of coffee per person worldwide. In the past ten years traditional Swedish coffee tradition has been diversified and enriched by Italian and continental European coffee, the result being the caffè latte (the Italian word for Swedish coffee with milk) and a gazillion other forms of coffee.
Alcohol
Linköping boasts several bars, among the most popular are BK, Platen's Bar and Platå, all of them found in the central parts of the city around the cathedral.
To get informed about any entertainment or cultural events in town, such as the occasional live band, you pick up the free Nolltretton and Corren Fredag magazines (only available in Swedish). You can also check the billboard on Lilla Torget where the arrangers post their flyers.
The students have their own places to go to, for instance Herrgår'n in the Ryd area or Nationernas Hus next door to the Cathedral in central Linköping. You have to be a university student (including foreign universities) or the guest of a student at Linköping University, to get in.
Sleep
Budget
Mid-range
Learn
Get out
The River Stångån ends in Lake Roxen a few kilometers north of the city. The river is also part of Kinda kanal with a system of early 19th century locks that allow scenic boat trips through other lakes further south. Lake Roxen is also part of Göta kanal, dug in the 1810s to connect the Baltic Sea with the Atlantic at Gothenburg. A remarkable sight is Bergs slussar, a sequence of six locks on Roxen's western shore, about 10 kilometers north of Linköping.
Linköping is a city in southern Sweden, with a population of 97,428 (2005). It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 138,580 inhabitants (2006) and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church of Sweden).
Linköping is the center of an old cultural region and celebrated its 700th anniversary in 1987. Nowadays Linköping is most well known for its university and its high-technology industry. Dominating the city's skyline from a far distance is the tower of the cathedral.
The city is situated south of lake Roxen (which is part of the historically important water paths Motala ström and the Göta Canal) where the main road from Stockholm to Helsingborg crosses the river Stångån (and Kinda kanal).
This road was part of the Eriksgata route that the newly elected king had to travel according to medieval Swedish Law. In the 20th century road system, it was first called Riksettan (national highway no 1). It is currently called E4 and has been redirected to pass outside the city on the north side. Further contributing to Linköping's excellent communications is its situation on the main southern railway line connecting Stockholm with Malmö and Danish capital Copenhagen. There is also a minor airport.
History
The city is probably named after the Lionga ting assembly which according to medieval Ostrogothic law was the most important ting in Östergötland. Exact location of the Lionga ting is not known, but it was along the Eriksgata.
Historically, Linköping is famed for being an early diocese, second in Sweden (within its pre-1658 boundaries) only to Skara. The diocese is first mentioned in 1104 in the so-called "List of Florence" (Lionga. Kaupinga). The monastery of Vreta Kloster near Roxen north of Linköping was established in 1128, and the oldest parts of the cathedral are also from the 12th century (although it has been changed many times since then, the eye-catching tower being a 19th century product). At several occasions, attempts to achieve a separate Swedish archdiocese were based in Linköping, though when they finally were successful in 1164, Uppsala was chosen instead.
Religious centers tend to become educational centers, and Linköping was no exception. A cathedral school can be traced from 1266, possibly the first in Sweden. In 1627 the current Linköping cathedral school was established, making it the second oldest gymnasium in Sweden.
Also, Linköping was the site for the final settlement of the dispute between king Sigismund III Vasa and his uncle Duke Charles, the latter prevailing in the battle of Stångebro (today a sports field near central Linköping) on September 25, 1598. This ultimately led to the rise to the throne of Charles (de facto at the Riksdag at Linköping in 1600 and formally four years later) and the end of the short-lived Swedish-Polish personal union, as well as the execution of five of Charles's political opponents on the main square of Linköping on March 20, 1600.
Linköping was a small town until 1937, when the Saab aircraft industry was formed, starting a period of rapid expansion. Linköping University was established in the 1960s. Today the city is a center of high-technology and software industry.
Culture
Linköping is the home of the multi-purpose Östergötland County Museum and of the Linköping Symphony Orchestra. The city is one of the sites of the Östergötland Music Days each summer, and the host of the Student Orchestra Festival in May every other year. One of the most notable choirs in Linköping is the Linköping University Male Voice Choir.
When the area around the main square was re-planned in the 1960s and many old houses were destroyed, some of them were moved to Gamla Linköping just outside the central parts of the city, now a living museum environment and a popular site for both residents and tourists to visit.
Centrally located street Ågatan contains many pubs and restaurants. It also hosts many of the city's night clubs, such as Harrys, BK and Platå.
Sports
Teams from Linköping are prominent in Volleyball (Team Valla/LiU) and ice hockey (Linköpings HC, or "Cluben" as some fans refer to it). The hockey team allied itself with Linköping's women's football (soccer) team and created Linköpings FC, which plays in the highest division. The team won the Swedish Cup in 2006. But the city continues to lack a first-class men's team in football (soccer) with Linköpings FF in one of the lower divisions.
Sister cities
Sister cities to Linköping are
See also
External links
