Birka Pixelhunt 5

To travel from cache to cache and tell a story of the Scandinavian history

English: "Birka Pixelhunt 5" is number 5 in our serie of Geocoins that tell about the Scandinavian history Birka was established in the middle of the 8th century and thus being one of the earliest urban settlements in Scandinavia, Birka was the Baltic link in the river and portage route through Ladoga (Aldeigja) and Novgorod (Holmsgard) to the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Califate. Birka was also important as the site of the first known Christian congregation in Sweden, founded in 831 by Saint Ansgar Birka was abandoned during the later half of the 10th century. Based on the coin finds, the city seems to have silenced around 960. Roughly around the same time, the near-by settlement of Sigtuna supplanted Birka as the main trading centre in the Mälaren area. The reasons for Birka's decline are disputed. A contributing factor may have been the post-glacial rebound, which lowered the water level of Mälaren changing it from an arm of the sea into a lake and cut Birka off from the nearest (southern) access to the Baltic Sea.[citation needed] The Baltic island of Gotland was also in a better strategic position for Russian-Byzantine trade, and was gaining eminence as a mercantile stronghold. Historian Neil Kent has speculated that the area may have been the victim of an enemy assault. Dansk: Birka var Sveriges første by. Byen lå på øen Bjørkø i søen Mälaren, og blev til i 800-900-tallet. Birka var en handelsby, og havde forbindelse til den danske Hedeby, hvorfra den fik fat i arabiske varer. Byen anses for at være det første sted i Sverige hvor der blev anlagt en kirke af Nordens apostel, Ansgar, i 831. I dag er stedet et turistmål, hvor man kan se de gamle vikingers gravpladser og fæstninger.