Castles and history in Strängnäs and Mariefred — Vasa fortresses, brick Gothic and Baroque

On Cathedral Hill in Strängnäs, more than a thousand years of Swedish history converge. Built into the brick walls of Strängnäs Cathedral and standing in the churchyard are seven Viking Age runestones, several commemorating the eastern expedition of Ingvar the Far-Travelled. Consecrated in 1291, the cathedral holds the funeral monument of King Karl IX and late-Gothic Brussels altarpieces.

Cathedral Hill, Roggeborgen and 6 June 1523

Immediately east of the cathedral stands Roggeborgen, erected in the 1480s by Bishop Kort Rogge. Here during the parliamentary assembly on 6 June 1523, Gustav Vasa was elected King of Sweden. Spared from the great town fire of 1871, the quarters around Cathedral Hill preserve timber lanes, historic school buildings, and the 17th-century courtyard of Grassagården.

Gripsholm Castle in Mariefred

Twenty kilometres east in Mariefred, Gustav Vasa began building Gripsholm Castle in 1537 on the site of Bo Jonsson Grip’s medieval stronghold. With Duke Karl’s Renaissance chamber, Gustav III’s 18th-century theatre, and the National Portrait Collection, the castle spans five centuries of royal history.

Mälsåker Castle and the cultural landscape of Selaön

North of Stallarholmen across the bridge to Selaön stands Mälsåker Castle by Lake Mälaren, given its Baroque form in the 1660s and 1670s by architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. Along the island road you also pass Överselö Church with medieval vault paintings by Albertus Pictor and the Viking burial ground at Åsa.

Together, Strängnäs and Mariefred make an ideal weekend of heritage exploration: spend the morning on Cathedral Hill, Kvarnkullen, and Grassagården in Strängnäs before continuing to Mariefred or Selaön in the afternoon.