Vasteras Attractions

Post code: S-72...

Telephone code: 021

Västerås, chief town of the county and province of Västmanland, lies in an inlet on Lake Mälar, at the mouth of the Svartå. The town takes its name from its original site on the west side of the river mouth, Västra Aros (aros = river mouth"), which in course of time became Västerås. The local park and turbine house are a few of the notable attractions. To attract tourists the town is promoting its location by the lake.

In the medieval period the town was the see of a bishop. Eleven meetings of the Swedish Diet were held here, the most important being the Diet of Västerås in 1527, during the reign of Gustavus Vasa, at which it was decided to adopt the Reformed faith.

The town grew rapidly during the 20th century with the development of industry. In 1900 it had barely 12,000 inhabitants - a figure which since then has multiplied almost tenfold. Among the town's principal industries is the manufacture of electrical appliances (ASEA Brown Boveri, ABB). Västerås is also an important inland port, used by many pleasure craft.