Lerwick

Lerwick, tu próximo destino MSC es el foco de la vida comercial de las Islas Shetland

El puerto de Lerwick está, durante todo el año, protegido por barcos pesqueros y de carga, así como por embarcaciones encargadas de suministrar las diferentes plataformas petrolíferas que se encuentran en el Mar del Norte. Es en verano, cuando el muelle cobra vida, con la visita de yates, cruceros o barcos históricos.

Detrás del antiguo muelle se encuentra el centro de la ciudad, constituido por una larga calle principal, la Calle Comercial revestida de piedra, cuya forma estrecha y sinuosa, se encuentra a una cuadra de la Explanada. Desde allí, las calles estrechas, se elevan hacia el oeste hasta la nueva ciudad victoriana. El extremo norte de la Calle Comercial está marcado por las altas murallas del Fuerte Charlotte,  comenzado por Carlos II en 1665, e incendiado por la flota holandesa en agosto de 1673, y reparado y nombrado en honor del reinado de George III en 1780.

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Behind the old harbour is the compact town centre, made up of one long main street, flagstone-clad Commercial Street, whose narrow, winding form, set back one block from the Esplanade, provides shelter from the elements even on the worst days. From here, narrow lanes, known as closses, rise westwards to the late Victorian new town. The northern end of Commercial Street is marked by the towering walls of Fort Charlotte, begun for Charles II in 1665, burnt down by the Dutch fleet in August 1673, and repaired and named in honour of George III’s queen in the 1780s.

Exhibits at the Shetland Museum, in a wonderful purpose-built waterfront building, include replicas of a hoard of Pictish silver found locally, the Monks Stone, thought to show the arrival of Christianity in Shetland, and a block of butter, tax payment for the King of Norway, found preserved in a peat bog.

MSC Northern Europe cruises also offer excursions to Scalloway, once the capital of Shetland, which however waned in importance throughout the eighteenth century as Lerwick grew. Nowadays, Scalloway is fairly sleepy, though its harbour is busy enough.

The town is dominated by the imposing shell of Scalloway Castle, a classic fortified tower house built with forced labour in 1600 by the infamous Earl Patrick Stewart, who held court in the castle and gained a reputation for cruelty and corruption.