Posted by The small town of Simrishamn is hardly what you will call a city today – but it has a long history and is still referred to as a city. The first mention of the town dates back to 1161 – but the city is also known as Cimbrishavn indicating it has a relation to the old Germanic tribe of the Cimbri’s. The tribe of Cimbri put a fear in Rome when they attacked the mighty Roman Empire in 113 BC. If there is actually a relation to this ancient tribe which is supposed to have lived in Jutland and not Scania the village would have much longer history than just under a thousand years.
The town never really took off as a major city so today the population is only about 6½ thousands residents which might be more than the historical norm for a town in Denmark – but not much by modern standards.
The city has been an important stop on a pilgrim route which is probably not very well known today. But there used to be a route connecting the most important religious places in Sweden at Vadstena and Nidradros in Norway with Santiago Compostela in Spain. It must have been an extremely long trip during the medieval times with the limited transport.
In the old St. Nicolai Church is part of this very long trail connecting the different religious places in the far ends of Europe. The church is an old stone church which isn’t all that big like the traditional cathedral from this period but it has a nice appears to have a quick look at.
FrejaTravels 