The Vasa Museum Stockholm, or the Vasamuseet, is a truly unique museum in Sweden, and indeed the world. Its claim to be the most visited Swedish museum is likely true, with over 25 million people having visited it by 2007. And its claim to fame? The Vasa Museum's distinctively shaped structure on the isle of Djurgården houses one of Europe's great archeological treasures, an almost intact 17th century warship, raised from the sea after three centuries underwater. Seventeenth century Sweden was an up-and-coming state with great ambitions. Colonial expansion was on the mind of every royal and for Sweden, the Navy was to be the backbone of any successful grand strategy. A ship called Vasa was to built as the flagship of the new Swedish navy. King Gustavus Adolphus himself commissioned the ship.