During the Viking Age, Birka ( Birca in medieval sources ), on the island of Björkö ( literally: " Birch Island ") in Sweden, was an important trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as Central and Eastern Europe and the Orient.

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.

-- With great difficulty they accomplished their long journey on foot, traversing also the intervening seas ( maria ), where it was possible, by ship, and eventually arrived at the Swedish port called Birka.

The exiled Swedish King Anund Uppsale confirms that either one of the churches was in Birka itself when he ponders if Birka should be plundered:

:" When the day for the assembly which was held in the town of Birka drew near, in accordance with their national custom the king caused a proclamation to be made to the people by the voice of a herald, in order that they might be informed concerning the object of their mission.

Noteworthy in the following statement is the usage of the term " not far " ( non longe ) which was also used to describe the distance between Birka and the Uppsala temple:

No place having a similar name to Birka is known to have situated on the opposite shore of Oder, so it may be possible that something similar to Jumne was located opposite to Birka.

Furthermore, the following was said about John's location after talking about Birka:

However, the island of Björkö was first claimed to have been Birka already about 1450 in the so-called " Chronicle of Sweden " ( Prosaiska krönikan ):

The one was called Sigtuna ( siktuna ) and the other Birka ( birka ).

Birka was on an island in Lake Mälaren ( mälar ) that is called Björkö ( birköö ).

In search of Birka, National Antiquarian Johan Hadorph was the first to attempt excavations on Björkö in the late 17th century.

After Björkö came to be identified with ancient Birka, it has been assumed that the original name of Birka was simply Bierkø ( sometimes spelt Bjärkö ), an earlier form of Björkö.

Approximately 700 people lived at Birka when it was at its largest, and about 3, 000 graves have been found.

It was an important seaport serving the Vistula River bay on the early medieval Baltic Sea trade routes which led from Birka in the north to the island of Gotland and to Visby in the Baltic Sea.

Birka was conveniently near the trade routes through the Södertälje Canal.

Truso was situated in a central location upon the Eastern European trade routes, which led from Birka in the north to the island of Gotland and to Visby in the Baltic Sea and later included the Hanseatic city of Elbląg.

Archaeologists believe that in the Early Middle Ages there was a great trade emporium, spreading along the shore for four kilometers and rivaling in importance Birka and Hedeby.

The administrative center of the important Viking settlement Birka ( on the neighbouring island Björkö ) was situated at Hovgården on Adelsö.

The King's House ( Kungsgården ) was next to Hovgården and the monarch ruled over the nearby Viking city of Birka.

The Wag. h el-Birket (" The Berka " or " The Birka ", Arabic: وجه البركة, " the face of the lake " or " fronting the lake ") was, through the first half of the 20th century, the entertainment district ( or red-light district ) of Cairo, Egypt.

Several bishops were appointed for Sweden in 1060s, one also for Birka.

Some of the most important trading ports during the period include both existing and ancient cities such as Aarhus ( Denmark ), Ribe ( Denmark ), Hedeby ( Germany ), Vineta ( Pomerania ), Truso ( Poland ), Kaupang ( Norway ), Birka ( Sweden ), Bordeaux ( France ), York ( England ), Dublin ( Ireland ) and Aldeigjuborg ( Russia ).

Archaeological investigations have only recently begun at Uppåkra, compared to for example Birka, a better known site where digs have taken place for a longer time.

In Vita Ansgari (" The life of Ansgar ") monk and later archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen Rimbert gives the first known description of Birka.

:" Turning from the northern parts to the mouth of the Baltic Sea we first meet the Norwegians ( Nortmanni ), then the Danish region of Skåne ( Sconia ) stands out, and beyond these live the Geats ( Gothi ) for a long stretch all the way to Birka.

* Saint Ansgar founds the first church in Sweden, at Birka.

Ansgar made his first visit to Birka in 829, was granted permission to build a church, and stayed as a missionary until 831.

Birka's first newbuilding MS Birka Princess in her original appearance, photographed in Stockholm.

On April 22, 1986, Birka's first newbuilding MS Birka Princess was delivered from the Valmet Vuosaari shipyard in Helsinki.

Rimbert's interests were in the Christian faith, not so much in the Swedish geopolicy, so his descriptions of Birka remain approximate at best.

* Christian missionary Ansgar visits Birka, trade city of the Swedes.

Around 850, he returned to Birka, where he saw that the previous congregation had faded away.

:" Birka is the main Geatish town ( oppidum Gothorum ), situated in the middle of Sweden ( Suevoniae ), not far ( non longe ) from the temple called Uppsala ( Ubsola ) which the Swedes ( Sueones ) held in the highest esteem when it comes to the worship of the gods ; here forms an inlet of the Baltic or the Barbaric Sea a port facing north which welcomes all the wild peoples all around this sea but which is risky for those who are careless or ignorant of such places ... they have therefore blocked this inlet of the troubled sea with hidden masses of rocks along more than 100 stadions ( 18 km ).

:" In pity of their errors, our archbishop ordained as their diocesan capital Birka, which is in the middle of Sweden ( Sueoniae ) facing Jumne ( Iumnem ), the capital of the Slavs, and equally distant from all the coasts of the surrounding sea.

* Birka, Sweden

* The cemeteries of Birka, Sweden, a World Heritage Site.

File: Valkyrie. jpg | A silver figure of a woman holding a drinking horn found in Birka, Björkö, Uppland, Sweden.

( The name of the island, since it is an old trading place, is maybe inspired by the name of the old and well-known town of Birka in Sweden, which has the same meaning ).

A centre of trade in northern Europe developed on the island Birka, not far from where Stockholm was later constructed, in mid Sweden.

According to the Västgöta theory, Birka as a name meant " merchant town ", and could refer to any such town in ancient Sweden.

Sometime in the 840s, Anund returns to Sweden with a large Danish host of 21 longships and 11 of his own, because Anund had promised them rich plunder in Birka, and they arrived when Björn at Hauge was far away.

Olof was king in Sweden when Catholic missionary St. Ansgar made his second voyage from Germany to the Swedish city of Birka in the year 854 A. D.

Ring is mentioned by Adam of Bremen who relates that he was king of Sweden when archbishop Unni arrived in Birka 935 or 936 where Unni died.

More than thirty lamellae ( individual plates for lamellar armour ) were found in Birka, Sweden, in 1877, 1934 and 1998-2000.

Some of the most notable of them are at the Borre mound cemetery, in Norway, at Birka in Sweden and Lindholm Høje and Jelling in Denmark.