Those Places Thursday - Kolmården Wildlife Park

Kolmården is the name of a large area, a forest, south of Stockholm, on the border between the provinces of Södermanland and Östergötland. Back in medieval times it was one of the forests that marked the border between Swedes and Geates. Due to the difficulty to travel through the forest the Baltic Sea was used for travels instead. Right on the border was a monestary and next to it an inn. The forest had a bad reputation, being a place for highwaymen and people staying away from the law so it was not a nice road to travel on. As time changed civilization came closer. An ironwork was founded, just north of where the monestary had been, in 1666 and this added to the traffic in the area. The railroad came and Riksväg 1 (highway one) was built through the forest, not far from the old road, and today it is one of the two big highways in Sweden.

The ruins of the churh where the monestary used to be.

For most Swedes the name Kolmården reminds them of the wildlife park that is named after the forest and also lies on the outskirts of it. It is a very popular place to visit and is known for its great dolphin show. The park was built in the early 1960's and is today one of the world's largest wildlife parks.

Link to Kolmården Wildlife Park in English:

http://www.kolmarden.com/sprak/english