Båstad Municipality

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This page deals with both Båstad Municipality and the urban area (tätort) Båstad

**Båstad Municipality (*Kommun*)**
Sweden with the province Skåne (Scania) highlighted Båstad municipality and seat in Scania Map outlining the municipalities of Sweden	Coat of arms
	Municipal facts
	Seat	Båstad
	56° 26´ N 12° 50´ E
	County	Skåne County
	Province	Scania and Hallandia
	Area Rank	218 km² 242nd of 290
	Population Rank (2005)	14,022 158th of 290
	Population density	64/km²

Båstad Municipality is a Swedish municipality in Scania (Skåne) in southern Sweden, where the Scanian town Båstad is seat with a population of 4,700.

Båstad has got the most tennis courts in the country, and has fostered many internationally successful tennis players, such as Magnus Larsson. Every summer, Swedish Open Båstad in tennis is held in the town as part of the ATP Tour. It attracts some 20,000 visitors and puts the town in a festive mood for a few weeks.

1 History
2 Geography
- 2.1 Hallandian ridge
3 Other sights
4 Notable natives
5 See also
6 Towns
7 Sources and external links

[edit] History

The first city privileges were granted in the 14th or 15th century, when the area (all Scanian counties) belonged to Denmark. The first certain date is 1513 when it was re-granted. At the time, the name in print was Botstœdœ, which would translate to "Boat City".

The area was in 1658 conquered by Sweden, and Båstad was given new "special" privileges in 1664, because it was of too insignificant size to receive the full royal charter as one of Sweden's cities. The minor privilege allowed the town to be used for commerce, handicraft and hostelry. The minor privilege was in effect until 1858 when it got proper rights as a merchant town, or köping.

[edit] Geography

The town is located in a sheltered bay with the Hallandian ridge stretching behind it. The town borders the shore, whereafter the terrain raises until the dense vegetation of the ridge takes over.

The marina; Hallandian ridge in background

A street adjacent to the central square

Better view of Hallandian ridge from a street in Båstad

[edit] Hallandian ridge

Extending through the municipality, marking the border to the province Hallandia, is the ridge of Hallandia, or Hallandsåsen. It is one of the highest points in the otherwise flat-terrained Scania, with a high of 226 meters.

The ridge reached the public eye in 1997, when a tunnel being dug through the ridge caused fishes in the streams to die and cows grazing on the ridge to become paralyzed. The reason was a substance containing the poisonous substance acrylamide used by the digging company to counteract a surprising high level of groundwater in the ridge.

[edit] Other sights

Saint Mary Church

The Church of Båstad or Saint Mary Church is located in central Båstad. It was constructed in the 15th century. It is a Romanesque church, and contains several wall paintings from various centuries; a madonna image; and a Danish altarpiece, among other things.

Solbakkens is a fantastic waffle house situated just above the town on Italiaanse Weg and serving some of the finest waffles in Sweden.