Gallery: Historic boat depicts the coastal Swedes’ trip to Ukraine | Culture
Runbjarn sailed from Tallinn’s Noblessner harbor on Sunday and will take about a year to complete his journey to the village of Gammalsvenskby on the Black Sea coast.
It is modeled on a historic ship from the 18th century as Estonian Swedes, also known as Coastal Swedes, used to escape from the island of Hiiumaa after the Great Northern War (1700–1721). They eventually ended up in Ukraine and founded the village in 1782.
“Our tribute will tie the knot that was torn after the Great Northern War,” Runbjörn’s boatman Eero Alamaa told Sunday’s “Aktuaalne kaamera”.
The trip carries an important message about the ties between Ukraine, Estonia and Europe, the program said.
The boat will sail to Kiel, Rotterdam, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, Vienna and Budapest and stay in Central Europe over the winter.
Gammalsvenskby, which translates as Old Swedish Village, is now a region in the village of Zmiivka in Beryslav Raion, Kherson Oblast.
Russia, Denmark-Norway and Saxony-Poland challenged Sweden’s supremacy in the Baltic region during the Great Northern War. The result led to a decrease in Swedish influence and Russia’s emergence as a regional superpower.
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