Tour a Viking Ship May 21 at Good Templar Park in Geneva
The second of eight summer visit days for a Viking ship replica, called the Viking, will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at Good Templar Park, 528 East Side Drive in Geneva.
Thirty-minute guided tours begin every 30 minutes. The last guided tour is at 3:30 p.m. Self-guided viewing is also available. Other visit days are June 19, 25, 26, July 16, Aug. 20, Sept. 17 and Oct. 15.
During Good Templar Park’s Swedish Day event on June 19, 2016 — which is a few days before the Geneva Chamber of Commerce Swedish Days festival June 21-26 in downtown Geneva — exhibit hours will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Other activities planned are a worship service at 10 a.m., arts and crafts fair, Scandinavian food, cottage walk, Maypole celebration, Nordic folk dancers and the Swedish American Children’s Choir.
Admission to the park June 19 will be $5 for adults and free for children under 12 and persons dressed in Scandinavian costumes. Viking tour admission will be $5 for adults and $3 for teens.
Tour hours June 25-26 will be 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for teens.
A viewing platform allows visitors to see inside the Viking which was built in 1893. The vessel is about 78 feet long, 17 feet wide, and 6.5 feet high from the bottom of the keel to the gunwale. Its black oak planks are fastened together with thousands of iron rivets. At sea, the Viking averaged 10 knots and the hull was designed to flex with the waves.
The boat is an exact copy of the Viking ship Gokstad, built about 850. A Gokstad replica, the Viking, was sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Bergen, Norway, to Chicago for the 1893 Columbian Exposition World’s Fair. After being exhibited at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the Viking was displayed in West Chicago before being moved to its current location in 1996.
Cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children age 6 and above. The minimum fee is $25.
Visit days are scheduled on the third Saturday of April, May, June, July, August, September and October. For more information, call 630-753-9412 or email viking1893@Gmail.com.
