What to do in Lund
Lundagård
Lundagård with its tall majestic trees is truly Lund’s heart. This has been the site of a garden since the early Middle Ages, but in the park of today traces remains of Swedish architect Carl Hårleman’s 1730s plan. Here you find the University´s main building, the old Palaestra gymnasium, the Lund University Historical Museum, the Cathedral and the students’ own castle the AF-borgen. Also in the park is the 16th-century red brick building Kungshuset – The King’s House, originally used by Denmark’s Fredrik II when visiting Lund.
Domkyrkan / The Cathedral
Lund Cathedral is open from early morning to late evening. Here you can sit down for a while in peace and quiet, and perhaps enjoy one of the many concerts that are given year round. The beautiful medieval astronomical clock plays every day at noon and at 15.00.
The church is the finest example of Romanesque architecture in the Nordic countries, built of local sandstone and consecrated in 1145. Next to the church is the visitor centre, which has received several prizes for its groundbreaking architecture.
The Botanical Garden
In the Lund University Botanical Garden, with over half a million visitors every year, you can enjoy the changing seasons in a peaceful and amazingly beautiful park. The present Botanical Garden, laid out in 1862-67, today holds some seven thousand species of plants in an area of almost eight hectares (little short of twenty thousand acres) in central Lund. In the gardens you’ll also find a tropical plant greenhouse and a popular summer café.
Kulturen
Kulturen is a unique open-air museum spread over two whole blocks in the heart of Lund. Of the thirty some buildings, many were moved here on threat of demolition, while a few remain in their original places as important parts of the city’s history. The ambition is to give insights as to how the nobility, clergy, burghers, farmers and peasants lived and worked.
Bosebo church, a wooden church moved here from Småland province, is a very popular wedding church. As well as featuring interesting exhibitions year round, the museum hosts traditional Midsummer’s Eve celebrations and a well visited Christmas market the first weekend of December.
Tegnerplatsen 1, Lund. www.kulturen.com
Lund with children
Lund has a lot to offer younger as well as older children. Many of the city’s museums and cultural institutions have ambitious children’s programs, among them the Kulturen, The Historical Museum, The Museum of Public Art, and the Water Hall – Vattenhallen.
The City Library’s children’s department is a lovely oasis with many activities, and you will also find books in other languages there. There are two really nice playgrounds in the city centre, one in the Kulturen Museum, and one in the City Park. The birds in the aviaries and the ponds are highly appreciated by the youngest. The Sagohuset Theatre offers children’s theatre, and the Filmstaden multiplex as well as the Kino and Södran cinemas have good children’s programs.
Skissernas Museum / Museum of Sketches
The Museum of Sketches – Skissernas Museum – was founded in 1934 as an archive for sketches, models and photographs of public art. The collection is unique in its kind, and today consists of some thirty thousand works from all over the world, by among others Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore. The beautiful halls also hosts temporary exhibitions with international and Swedish art, always connected to the creative process from sketch to finished piece.
Stadsparken / the City Park
The City Park – Stadsparken – is the city’s green lung and a veritable family room for natives as well as for tourists. The park got its present layout at a national exhibition in 1907, from which the pretty pavilion originates.
In connection with the park you find the Högevall indoor public pools and water park, Stadsparkskaféet and the Mejeriet cultural centre with concerts, cinema and cultural happenings. Close to Mejeriet in the south part of the park, the much loved Söderlyckan Skatepark is situated.