Scania, also known as Skane , is the southernmost province (landskap) of Sweden.
Within Scania, there are 33 municipalities that are autonomous within the Scania Regional Council. Scania’s largest city is Malmo, which is also the third largest in Sweden, as well as the fifth largest in Scandinavia. To the north, Scania borders the provinces of Halland and Smaland, to the northeast Blekinge, to the east and south the Baltic Sea, and to the west Oresund. Since 2000, a road and railway bridge, the Oresund Bridge, bridges the sound to Denmark. Scania is part of the transnational Oresund Region. From north to south Scania is around 130 km and covers less than 3% of Sweden’s total area. The population of over 1,320,000 represents 13% of the country’s population. With 121 inh/km2 Scania is the second most densely populated province of Sweden.
Historically, Scania was part of the kingdom of Denmark, up until the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658 History : Scania was first mentioned in written texts in the 9th century. It came under Danish king Harald Bluetooth in the middle of the 10th century. It was then a region that included Blekinge and Halland, situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula and formed the eastern part of the kingdom of Denmark. This geographical position made it the focal point of the frequent Dano-Swedish wars for hundreds of years.
By the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, all Danish lands east of Oresund were ceded to the Swedish Crown. First placed under a Governor-General, the province was eventually integrated into the kingdom of Sweden. The last Danish attempt to regain its lost provinces failed after the Battle of Helsingborg (1710). In 1719 the province was subdivided in two counties and administered in the same way as the rest of Sweden. Scania has since that year been fully integrated in the Swedish nation. In the following summer, July 1720, the last peace treaty between Sweden and Denmark was signed. Scania is still considered a de jure and core province by Denmark.
On 28 November 2017 it was ruled that the Scanian flag would become the official flag of Scania.
Cities :
1 Eslov
2 Helsingborg – the gateway to Denmark, with Helsingor 5 km across the Oresund
3 Höör
4 Horby
5 Kristianstad
6 Landskrona
7 Lund – famous for its long-standing university and cathedral.
8 Malmo – the third largest city of Sweden, which evolved from an industrial city centered around a shipyard to a modern model of a substainable community with one of the best biking infrastructures in the world
9 Simrishamn
10 Trelleborg – Sweden’s southernmost city
11 Ystad – home of fictional detective Kurt Wallander, created by Henning Mankell
Access : Coordinates: 55.8, 13.616667 / By plane : Copenhagen Airport (Kastrup) (CPH IATA) in Denmark, is the main international airport of the area, just across the Oresundsbron bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden. A 10-minute trip by train, bus or car takes you from Copenhagen Airport to Skane. Skanetrafiken trains run from Copenhagen Airport to Malmo and Skane every 20 minutes, a one-way ticket costs around 100 kr.
Malmo Airport (Sturup), 25 km east of Malmo, has air traffic from Stockholm, Hungary, Poland among others. There are Flygbussarna airport coach connections to the cities of Malmo and Lund.
By boat : Scania is connected to Germany, Denmark and Poland by car ferry. TT-Line runs services to Trelleborg from Travemunde and Rostock (Germany) daily.
Scandlines runs daily services to Trelleborg from Sassnitz (Germany).
Stena Line runs daily services to Trelleborg from Rostock (Germany).
Scandlines and HH-Ferries runs very frequent services to Helsingborg from Elsinore (Denmark). The trip takes about 20 minutes and the ships run at least every hour 24/7. Daytime there is a departure every 15 minutes.
Unity Line and Polferries run daily services from Swinoujscie (Poland) to Ystad.
By car : The Oresund Bridge charges a toll, which is 395 kr for a standard car.
Get around : Skanetrafiken provides comprehensive rail and bus service in the region. With a flat scenery and milder climate than the rest of Sweden, Scania is suitable for cycling. Ventrafiken runs a domestic ferry line between Landskrona and Ven.
Highlights : Fertile and populous, Scania is more shaped by man than the rest of Sweden, full of palaces, manors and churches.
- Sofiero. A palace and gardens just north of Helsingborg, a former royal summer residence and renowned as one of Europe’s largest collections of rhododendrons, more than 10,000 plants with 500 different varieties.
Lund’s Cathedral. The foremost Romanesque cathedral in the Nordic Region. Awarded three stars in the Michelin tourist guide. - Glimmingehus. The best-preserved medieval castle in the Nordic region.
Skane Zoo. The only Scandinavian zoo with Scandinavian animals only. - Svarta Bergen (“The Black Quarry”) (take road 15/119 southwest from Lonsboda and look out for the signs towards “Svarta Bergen”). Svarta Bergen is a former quarry of black dolerite. Today with a small museum.
- Nytebodaskogen (“Nyteboda forest”) (take the road straight south from Lonsboda). Nyteboda forest has been left untouched for close to 200 years, and has some very large pines aged more than 250 years. Interesting plant life including some very rare orchids.
- BRIO Lekoseum. Toy museum for the famous Swedish brand of wooden toys.
- Hovddala Slott (“Hovddala Manor”). Fortified manor house from early 12th century.
- Sporrakulla Gard. Museum farm from around 1700. In summer demonstrations of production of charcoal and tar.
- The Foteviken Museum is an archaeological open-air museum on the Hollviken peninsula in southern Skane, Sweden. It contains a reconstruction of a large Viking Age settlement and a “viking reservation”, and visitors participate in living history reenactments it also performs research and functions as the municipal museum of Vellinge Municipality and part of Fotevikens Kulturcenter, a group of cultural facilities on the peninsula.
Activities : Hiking on Skaneleden.
Golf. From central Scania you can reach around 70 golf courses in 50 minutes. Choose from European Tour favourites and tranquil, friendly golf clubs. Barseback , host of the Solheim Cup 2003, is classed as the best golf course in Sweden. PGA of Sweden National Golf Resort close to Malmo is considered one of the best golfing centres of northern Europe.
The relatively mild climate makes Scania appropriate for water sports.
Cycling through the flat scenery.
Fishing is pretty good and a lot of people come from Denmark and Germany for that purpose.
Hunting is also quite common and the great moose hunt takes place in October every year.
In autumn the forests are prime territory for mushrooms and berries (lingonberry and common bilberry are everywhere).
Go next : Blekinge / Bornholm is an island, and the only remnant of Eastern Denmark / Smaland consists of deep forests./ Zealand and the Danish capital of Copenhagen
