22 MARINA VISIT Marstrands


Gasthamn, Sweden


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ocated just outside Kungälv in the Southern Bohuslän Archipelago on the West Coast of Sweden, Marstrands


Gasthamn sits below the brooding bulk of Carlsten Fortress where its busy harbour has been compared to Cowes when it stages major international sailing events such as the World Match Racing Tour finals. Designed to berth 300 boats, the marina has been known to accommodate more vessels when 100,000 visitors attend this event. The town’s colourful history


– as so often in Western Sweden – mainly revolves around fish. Founded under Norwegian rule in the 13th century, it achieved remarkable prosperity through


MARINA EURO-REPORT • JUNE 2016


herring fishing during the following century, when the ruling king, Håkon of Norway, obtained permission from the Pope to allow fishing in the


town even on holy days. Rich herring pickings, however, eventually led to greed and corruption, and Marstrand became known as the most immoral


town in Scandinavia. The murder of a cleric in 1586


was seen as an omen and very soon, the whole town burned to the


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