Oxie

Story

Oxie is a locality and was a city district (stadsdel) in the south-east of Malmö Municipality, Sweden. On 1 July 2013, the city district was merged with Fosie, forming Söder. In 2012, Oxie had a population of 12,453 of the municipality's 307,758. The area was 2,306 hectares.Notable buildings include the medieval Oxie church (Oxie kyrka) and the water tower. From the railway station commuter trains proceed to Malmö and Ystad.It is dominated by residential areas of single-family detached home and semi-detached houses. Oxie centrum is the center point of the town with a small square, several stores and service providers.HistoryThe area around Oxie is rich in archaeological finds. Settlements from the neolithic, bronze age and iron age have been discovered. The spectacular bronze-age burial mounds Kungshögarna (Mounds of the Kings) provides a monumental sight, overlooking the highway to Malmö. These mounds, at 60 m above sea level, are also the highest natural point in Malmö municipality.Oxie is first mentioned in written sources 1130 as Oshögha, believed to mean the mound by the spring. As the center point of the church municipality Oxie hundred, Oxie was also the seat of the hundred thing (Häradstinget), which was held every spring and autumn. Local names such as Tingbacken (Thing hill) and Tingdammen (Thing pond) indicate the location of the things. Galjebacken (Gallow Hill) is another place, bearing witness to the judicial powers of the hundred thing. Galjebacken was used for executions well into the 19th century. The oldest building in Oxie is the church, originally built in 1160. It was heavily restored in 1848 by Carl Georg Brunius, but the walls of the nave, the southern gate and the Baptismal font are all remains from the original church. There are theories that a wooden church existed at the site prior to the 1160 stone construction.