Fyrisån (, "the Fyris river") is a river in the

Swedish province The provinces of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges landskap) are historical, geographical and cultural regions. Sweden has 25 provinces; they have no administrative function (except for in some cases as sport districts), but remain historical legacies and a ...

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small un ...

, which passes through the city of

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

and ends in Lake Mälaren. The "Sala" river in Uppland was changed in the 17th century in memory of the Fyrisvellir battle, mentioned in the Icelandic sagas, as it was the belief that the marshy plains called "Föret" was the site of the famous Battle of Fýrisvellir in the late 10th century. Boats can sail up the river from Lake Mälaren all the way to central Uppsala where two

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s make further progress impossible. In the summer of 2007 the construction of a

fish ladder A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as mo ...

was started, in order to make it possible for the

asp Asp may refer to: Places * Asp, part of Densbüren, Aargau, Switzerland * Aspe (''Asp'' in Valencian), Alicante, Spain * Asp Lake, a lake in Minnesota Animals * Asp (fish) * Asp (snake), in antiquity, one of several venomous snakes ** ''Cera ...

, an endangered and potamodromous fish, to pass the weirs and reach its spawning waters. On the last day of April every year, during The Uppsala River Rafting Event, students attempt to navigate the weirs on homemade rafts with predictable results.

References

{{reflist Uppland Rivers of Uppsala County Norrström basin