Nyköping Castle, Nyköping, Sweden

Nyköping Castle is a medieval castle from the Birger Jarl era, partly in ruins. The castle is mostly known for the ghastly Nyköping Banquet which took place here in 1317. The construction of the castle began in the end of the 12th century, when it began as a fortification. It is thought Birger Jarl expanded the building to a larger castle. During the reign of Albert of Sweden the castle was held as a fief by the German knight Raven van Barnekow, who made important improvements on the building, and later by Bo Jonsson Grip. Further reconstructions and expansions were done during the late Middle Ages. Gustav Vasa strengthened the castle further for defensive purposes and a round gun tower from that time remains today.

The medieval castle was rebuilt in the end of the 16th century by Duke Charles (later Charles IX of Sweden) into a renaissance palace. The palace burned down with the rest of the city in 1665. It wasn't reerected; in fact some of its bricks were used in the construction of Stockholm Palace. However, parts of the castle were sound enough to be used as county residence until the 1760s.

Parts of the castle were refurbished in the 20th century. Kungstornet (the King's Tower) and Gamla residenset (the Old Residence) currently house the permanent exhibits of Sörmlands museum (the Museum of Södermanland). A restaurant is located in the banquet hall and Drottningkällaren (the Queen's Cellar).

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Ruud Jacobs (2 years ago)
Nice old castle, haven't been inside, but beautiful on the outside.

Eken (2 years ago)
An old castle that has burned down a couple of times. Not as impressive as it used to be (I assume) but still worth a visit. Three different exhibitions in the castle; the old days 13th century, the renaissance and modern time 19th century when the castle was used as a prison. We also took a guided tour of the castle named “walls, besieged and defence “ that was really good. Also stroll over to the pond where you can see the rare red water lilys,

Bastian Fromm (2 years ago)
Very interesting historical site. Excellent staff, ambitious exhibitions and good for kids, too.

Simon Larsson (2 years ago)
An iconic, historical place, a must-see when in town. In the summer, there are markets with merchants and actors in costume.

Kent Molinder (3 years ago)
Nice, with Swedish history all over.

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