Ystad Municipality

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This page deals with both Ystad Municipality and the urban area (tätort) Ystad

**Ystad Municipality (*Kommun*)**
Ystad Municipality in Skåne County Map outlining municipalities of Sweden	Coat of arms
	Municipal facts
	Seat	Ystad
	55° 25´ N 13° 50´ E
	County	Skåne County
	Province	Scania
	Area Rank	352 km² 216th of 290
	Population Rank (2005)	26,898 x of 290
	Density	76/km²

Ystad Municipality [ˈʏstɐ] or [ˈyːˌstɑːdʰ] is a Swedish municipality in Skåne in southernmost Sweden. The Scanian city of Ystad is the seat with a population of 17,353 inhabitants.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Today
4 References
5 Sister cities
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Ystad is located in the area known as Österlen. Its location in a sheltered bay led people to settle in the area a long time ago.

[edit] History

In the 13th century, the foundation of a town was established at the mouth of the Vassån, a small river. The monastery Gråbrödraklostret, of the Franciscan order, was finished in the middle of that century.

The coat of arms is derived from the Danish coat of arms and has been in use since the 14th century. Up until 1658, the southern provinces terra Scania were Danish territory.

A street in central Ystad

The Saint Petri Church

[edit] Today

Some of the main industries of the town are trade, handicraft and tourism. It is considered one of the best preserved cities in the Scania province, and few cities in Sweden can measure its old picturesque houses and street net.

The town houses two large medieval churches: The Saint Petri Church and the Saint Mary Church, both highly influenced by the gothic Hansa architecture that can be seen in churches around the Baltic Sea, for instance in Helsingborg, Malmö and Rostock.

Ystad is known internationally as the setting for many of the novels of Henning Mankell, featuring fictional Ystad police inspector Kurt Wallander.

There are frequent ferries to Bornholm and to Świnoujście in Poland. The town has train connections with Malmö, Simrishamn and Copenhagen.

[edit] References

Most material comes from sv:Ystad

[edit] Sister cities

Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway

[edit] External links

	Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ystad

Ystad - Official site, in German, English and Polish
Österlen - Official site
(Swedish) article Ystad from Nordisk Familjebok(1922)
Kurt Wallander English Language site for fans of Henning Mankell's detective series, including information on, and photographs of, Ystad.