NYKÖPING, a city of Sweden, the chief town of the province of Nyköping (Södermanland), is situated on both banks of a stream which unites Lakes Yngaren, Tisaren, <tc., with By Fjord, and so with the Baltic. Connected by a branch line with the railway from Stockholm to the Norwegian frontier, it lies about 100 miles by rail southwest of Stockholm. The ruins of its once famous castle, the governor’s residence, the churches of St Nicholas and All Saints, the town-house (1662), and the hospital are the more noteworthy buildings. The population was 4825 in 1862, 4813 in 1880.

Nyköping {i.e., New-Market, Latinized as Nicopia) begins to appear as a regular town with churches and monasteries early in the 13th century. Its castle was the seat of the kings of Södermanland, and after those of Stockholm and Calmar was the strongest in Sweden. The death of Waldemar in 1293, the starving to death of Dukes Waldemar and Eric in 1318, the marriage and the deaths both of Charles IX. and his consort Christina of Holstein, the birth of their daughter Princess Catherine, and in 1622 the birth of her son Charles X. are the main incidents of which it was the scene. Burned down in 1665 and again damaged by fire in 1719, it still remained the seat of the provincial authorities till 1760. The town was burned by Albert of Mecklenburg’s party in 1389, by an accidental conflagration in 1665, and by the Russians in 1719.