Göta highway ( sv, Göta landsväg) was, up to the late-17th century, the only road between

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and south of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Dating back at least to the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, and some parts even back to the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

, the highway is the oldest known road from Stockholm to the south. Göta highway lost importance after the year 1670, when the new highway via

Hornstull Hornstull () is an area in western Södermalm, Stockholm. Hornstull is actually the name of where the streets Hornsgatan and Långholmsgatan intersect. Up to the early 19th century it was also a city toll; "tull" in Swedish. Hornstull also has ...

came in use. Göta highway started in the centre of Stockholm at the Old Castle of Stockholm in

Gamla Stan Gamla stan (, "The Old Town"), until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna ("The Town between the Bridges"), is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. Officially, but not colloquially, Gamla stan ...

and led through

Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is a district and island in central Stockholm. Overview The district covers the large island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''). Although Södermalm usually is considered an island, wa ...

(here, the street is now named

Götgatan Götgatan (Original Swedish ''Göthegatan''*Stahre, Nils-Gustaf; Fogelström, Per Anders (1986). Stockholms gatunamn: innerstaden. Monografier utgivna av Stockholms stad (1st edition). Stockholm: Liber/Allmänna förlaget. Libris 7269073. for " Go ...

) and the south suburbs of the city via the present-day

Huddinge Municipality Huddinge Municipality ( sv, Huddinge kommun) is a municipality in Stockholm County, east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Huddinge (), which is a part of Stockholm urban area. The municipality is, with its approximately 110,000 inhabitant ...

Botkyrka Municipality Botkyrka Municipality ( ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, not far from the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the town of Tumba. In 1971 ''Grödinge'' was merged with Botkyrka and in 1974 ''Salem'' was added. ...

and

Salem Municipality Salem Municipality (''Salems kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. The name traces its origins from ''Slæm'' in the 13th century, but was changed to Salem in the 17th century, inspired by the Biblical name of Jeru ...

to the city of

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Södermanland and Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. As of 2017, it has 72,704 inhabitants. Södertälje is located at Mälarens confluence in to the Baltic Sea ...

, and then further on to

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, wit ...

, one of the three

lands of Sweden The lands of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges landsdelar) are three traditional and historical regions of the country, each consisting of several provinces. The division into lands goes back to the foundation of modern Sweden, when ''Götaland'', the land ...

. For those who in the 16th century were to travel by land south of Stockholm, Göta country road was the only alternative. The road dates back at least to the middle ages. It was probably already trampled on in the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

or even earlier.Allt om Stockholm, s. 260 & 270–271 Portions of the highway as it once was, have been saved to posterity in only a few places. For example, it can be seen crossing the Årsta field (''Årstafältet'') in

Enskede-Årsta Enskede-Årsta was a borough (''stadsdelsområde'') in the southern part of Stockholm, Sweden from 1998 to 1 January 2007. It was formed when the boroughs of Enskede and Årsta merged, and was primarily made up of Enskede ( Gård, -fältet, ...

, south of Södermalm. On Årsta field there is a 900 meter long part of ''Göta landsväg'', and where it passed the ''Valla brook'' there is a stone-arched bridge that was built in the 18th or 19th century. It originally was a wade or a simpler wooden bridge. Since long in ruins, it was restored in 1998 after a model of a similar bridge on another part of the highway in Botkyrka. The Göta highway on Årsta field is an

ancient monument In British law, an ancient monument is an early historical structure or monument (e.g. an archaeological site) worthy of preservation and study due to archaeological or heritage interest. The ''Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 ...

.Stahre (1986), sida 228

External links

More about Göta highway in Swedish

References

Roads in Sweden Götaland Svealand {{sweden-road-stub

See also

External links

References