The name Uppsala originally belonged to a place a few kilometers north, now called Gamla Uppsala, Old Uppsala. Medieval chronicler Adam of Bremen described it in the eleventh century as the main pagan center of Sweden, where a magnificent temple contained idols of Thor, Odin, and Frey, and where human sacrifices hung from sacred trees during nine-year festivals. Three great burial mounds, possibly belonging to the semi-legendary Yngling dynasty of kings, still rise from the plain. The site drew pilgrims and traders for centuries before Christianity arrived. Nearby, the Kungsangen plains along the river may be the legendary Fyrisvellir, where the Battle of Fyrisvellir was fought in the 980s. By the time the old pagan center declined, the river-mouth settlement called Ostra Aros, 'East River-mouth,' had already begun its rise.

The transformation came in stages. In 1160, King Eric Jedvardsson was killed outside the church of Ostra Aros and later venerated as Saint Eric. When the old cathedral at Gamla Uppsala burned in 1274, the archbishopric moved south, bringing Saint Eric's relics to the settlement that would now bear the name Uppsala. The great Gothic cathedral, inaugurated in 1435 after more than a century of construction, became Scandinavia's largest church, its towers rising over 118 meters. Meanwhile, King Gustav Vasa built his castle on the glacial ridge overlooking the town, making Uppsala effectively Sweden's secondary capital during the empire's greatest extent. From here, the king who broke with Rome and established Swedish Protestantism could survey both the ancient religious center and the new royal power.

Uppsala University, founded in 1477, is the oldest in Scandinavia and has shaped the city's character ever since. A distinct town-and-gown division persists: clergy, royalty, and academia historically occupied the Fjardingen neighborhood on the river's western bank, somewhat apart from the commercial bustle on the eastern side. This ensemble of cathedral, castle, and university buildings remains largely undisturbed. The scholars who worked here changed how humanity understands the world: Anders Celsius with his temperature scale, Carl Linnaeus with his classification of species, Anders Jonas Angstrom with his unit of wavelength measurement. Filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, diplomat Dag Hammarskjold, and countless Swedish politicians also called Uppsala home. The university's student nations, dating to the 1630s, still organize much of student social life.

In 1702, fire devastated Uppsala, destroying much of the medieval town though sparing the cathedral and the Gustavianum university building. The story goes that the aged scholar Olaus Rudbeck, who had designed the Gustavianum's anatomical theater decades before, stood on its roof directing the firefighting efforts. The city rebuilt in more regular patterns. The nineteenth century brought the railway; the twentieth brought automobile-era demolitions that erased much of the historic eastern commercial district. Yet the western quarter survived, and recent decades have seen a shift: retail activity has moved to suburban malls while students and residents rediscover the riverside center. The Fyris River still flows through, a small stream lined with lush vegetation that anchors the city in its ancient geography.

Uppsala lies just south of the 60th parallel, making the seasons dramatic. Midsummer brings over eighteen hours of visible sunshine, the sky barely darkening before dawn returns. Winter compresses daylight to under six hours. The Gulf Stream moderates what would otherwise be brutal cold; January averages around minus four Celsius, mild compared to Fort Smith in Canada at the same latitude. Summer highs occasionally reach remarkable extremes: on July 9, 1933, the thermometer hit 37.4 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature ever recorded in Scandinavia. Today climate warming is measurable: winter temperatures have risen more than 1.5 degrees Celsius since the mid-twentieth century. Snow blankets the city about 100 days per year, coating the cathedral towers and castle walls in white while students trudge between lectures across the frozen landscape.