Simrishamns Kommun

Simrishamns Kommun forms the coastal part of the Österlen region, which is called either Sweden's Tuscany or Swedish Provence. The other half of Österlen administratively covers the entire area of the western neighbouring municipality Tomelilla Kommun and the border regions of [link2-267]Ystads Kommun[/link] in the south and Kristanstads Kommun in the north.

The landscape within Simrishamns Kommun, which is about 45 kilometres long and up to 15 kilometres wide, shows a two-part picture. While the southern half is more or less flat and almost exclusively dominated by agriculture, the landscape north of the line Listarum - Östra Vemmerlöv - Baskemölla is hilly and partly forested.

The eastern end of the 60 kilometre long tectonic fault Linderödsåsen is crossing the northern half of the municipality. With the 97 metre high Stenshuvud it marks the highest point within Simrishamns Kommun. The mountain, consisting of primary rock, forms the dramatic end of the mountain ridge directly on the coast and is also the centre of Stenshuvuds Nationalpark.

The numerous beaches along the coast offer many variations of rocky and sandy beaches. You can choose from fine white sand like at the almost exotic-looking Knäbäckshusens Strand to coarse-grained sand in reddish tones like at the beach in Tobisvik.

The mild climate and the special light conditions in the coastal region of Österlen not only attract countless holidaymakers year after year – after all, the number of inhabitants within the municipality of Simrishamn doubles in the summer months – but for about one hundred years an above-average number of artists have also settled there. Moreover, the climatic conditions even allow wine to be grown in sheltered areas. And around Kivik there are large orchards where about one third of the apples harvested in Sweden are grown.

Places to discover

Kiviks Musteri is one of Sweden's best-known fruit wine producers and is the leading company in the cultivation and processing of apples. The winery is the initiator of the annual apple market (Äppelmarknaden) and offers an insight into a show factory in the company's own museum Äpplets Hus as well as a lot of interesting facts about the history, cultivation, breeding, processing and research of the tasty tree fruit.

From a cultural-historical point of view, the municipality of Simrishamn offers an exciting cross section through different historical periods by means of some well-known monuments and buildings. For example, the approximately 5,500-year-old tomb Havängsdösen stands for a large and well-preserved megalithic tomb from the Neolithic Age, which was hidden under a thick layer of sand for many centuries. In Kivik, the Kiviksgraven offers the unique opportunity to visit Sweden's largest Bronze Age tomb from the inside and a visit to the castle Glimmingehus takes you through the best preserved medieval castle complex in Northern Europe.

Simrishamns Kommun in figures

With a total landarea of around 392 square kilometres, Simrishamns Kommun is one of the medium-sized municipalities in the province of Skåne. With a total population of around 19,200 inhabitants, the population density is almost 49 inhabitants per square kilometre, which is slightly more than twice the Swedish national average. About one third of the local population, about 6,900, live in the urban area of the central town Simrishamn. Gärsnäs, the second largest town, has about 1,100 inhabitants, and Borrby, the third largest town in the municipality, is home to about 1,000 people.