Skänninge () is a
locality situated in
Mjölby Municipality
Mjölby Municipality (''Mjölby kommun'') is a municipality in Östergötland County in southeast Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Mjölby, with some 13,000 inhabitants. ,
Östergötland County
Östergötland County ( sv, Östergötlands län) is a county or '' län'' in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southeast, Jönköping to the southwest, Örebro to the northwest, and Södermanland to the ...
,
Sweden with 3,140 inhabitants in 2010.
It lies about 10 km north of the municipal seat
Mjölby.
Before the local government reform in 1971 the ''City of Skänninge'' was a municipal entity of its own.
Skänninge is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a
''city''.
Statistics Sweden
Statistics Sweden ( sv, Statistiska centralbyrån ; SCB) is the Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Finance and responsible for producing official statistics for decision-making, debate and research. The agency's responsibi ...
, however, only counts
localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities.
Geography
The town is located on the
Skena river.
History
The history of the town goes back to the 11th century, making it one of the oldest
cities in Sweden
''Stad'' (Swedish: "town; city"; plural ''städer'') is a Swedish term that historically was used for urban centers of various sizes. Since 1971, ''stad'' has no administrative or legal significance in Sweden.
History
The status of towns in Swe ...
. The town has changed little since then and is still the same size as the same street structure. Many locations are recognizable since the Middle Ages.
One of the older buildings in the medieval
Brick Gothic
Brick Gothic (german: Backsteingotik, pl, Gotyk ceglany, nl, Baksteengotiek) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have reso ...
Church of Our Lady, Sw. ''Vårfrukyrkan'', constructed by the town's German population in honor of the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
. Apart from the church, the town also contains the remains of a
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...
of the
Dominican order
The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of C ...
.
In 1250, the reigning family of
Folkung had its main quarters near Skänninge, and the town developed into something of the
Götaland
Götaland (; also '' Geatland'', '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, wi ...
capital, and the market place became one of the richest and most attended in the country. However, in the 13th century, the nearby located city of
Vadstena
Vadstena () is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,613 inhabitants in 2010. From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality.
Despite its small population, Vadsten ...
surpassed it in interest. Furthermore, Skännige suffered fires in 1477 and 1466.
The annual Skänninge Market with its 1000-year-old tradition is still being held in August every year and visited by around 120,000 people.
References
External links
article ''Skänninge''from
Nordisk familjebok
Skänninge - Den lilla staden med de stora minnena
Populated places in Östergötland County
Populated places in Mjölby Municipality
{{Östergötland-geo-stub