Travel Guide Sundsvall

The arrival in Sundsvall is striking: the parade of wooded hills suddenly gives way to the immense bay over which the thick smoke of the paper mills seems to float. Sundsvall was founded in 1621 by Gustav Adolph, whose statue adorns the central square, Stora Torget, and for a long time lived off the export of wood to southern Europe, especially France. Today, the town has 100,000 inhabitants, many of whom are employed by SCA, the huge paper manufacturer that has several hubs in the area. Sundsvall is built in a valley between two mountains, Norra Berget and Södra Berget. On the first one, traditional houses shelter a typical Christmas market in December and the second one has some ski slopes. The city center was completely rebuilt after the fire that destroyed it entirely in 1888. With the insurance money (the equivalent of 2.1 million euros, a colossal sum for the time), the wood magnates employed the best architects to make it a capital city: flamboyant buildings of Italian and French inspiration, large squares, esplanades, hotels with the appearance of palaces, which gives it the nickname of "stone city", as it is rare to see a city center in northern Sweden with so few wooden buildings. Sundsvall is quite pleasant, with rather deadly evenings, but it was consecrated in 2004 as the "European city of pop", thanks to the numerous studios located there and which attract artists from all over the world.