Strängnäs

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Strängnäs is a locality and the seat of Strängnäs Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 12,856 inhabitants in 2010. It is located by Lake Mälaren and is the episcopal see of the Diocese of Strängnäs, one of the thirteen dioceses of the Church of Sweden. Prominently located on a hilltop, Strängnäs Cathedral, built between 1291 and 1340, is an important landmark.EtymologyThe city's name is first encountered in 1120, in reference to the Diocese. The name Strängnäs is derived from the fact that the city is located near a strait and on several hills, especially on two major ones, the "Mill Hill" and the "Cathedral Hill". In Old Norse strengr indicates a "narrow channel of water" and nes refers to an "isthmus", "narrow peninsula", or " headland", a very common toponymic in Scandinavia.HistoryA monastery was established around 1250, and the cathedral inaugurated in 1291, with the town subsequently evolving around these two institutions.The oldest known city charter was granted in 1336 by King Magnus Eriksson. Strängnäs became a city of importance in the Södermanland province, as the location of the governing thing and also of an annual market. King Gustav Vasa was elected king in Strängnäs in 1523, and delivered his first speech from a position adjacent to the cathedral.