Ven, Sweden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map of Hven from the Blaeu Atlas 1663

Backafall, the west coast of Hven

Ven (Danish and older Swedish spelling Hven) is a small Swedish island in the Öresund strait, between Scania and Zealand (Denmark). It is situated in Landskrona Municipality, Skåne County. The island has 371 inhabitants and an area of 7.5 km². During the 1930s, the population was at its peak, ca 1,300.

The island was historically under Danish rule, but it fell to Swedish hands in 1658, as the rest of Scania was ceded to Sweden by the Treaty of Roskilde. This was confirmed in 1660 by the Treaty of Copenhagen.

Astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) built two observatories here, Uraniborg and Stjerneborg.

There are three villages on the island: Bäckviken, Tuna By and Kyrkbacken.

Ven has ferries to Landskrona, Helsingborg and, in the summer only, to Copenhagen. The ferries land in Bäckviken. The island is a popular tourist place, especially in summer. It is sometimes called "The pearl of Öresund". As the earth is rich of moraine, it is good for agriculture. Durum and grapes are planted here.

Backafall on Ven is named in Gabriel Jönssons poem Vid vakten.