Nykoping

Nykoping, a seaport of Sweden, chief town of the district (lain) of Sodermanland, 98 m. S.W. of Stockholm by a branch from the Stockholm-Malmo railway. Pop. (1900) 73 75. It lies at the head of the Byfjord, an inlet of the Baltic. The ruins of its once famous castle, the town hall (1662), and the district governor's residence, are notable buildings. The port, together with that of Oxelosund (ro m. S.E.) at the mouth of the bay, which is seldom closed in winter, exports iron and zinc ore, timber, wood-pulp and oats.

Nykdping (i.e. New-Market, Latinized as Nicopia) begins to appear as a town early in the 13th century. Its castle was the seat of the kings of Sodermanland, and after those of Stockholm and Kalmar 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.