Göta highway
Encyclopedia
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
and south of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Dating back at least to the middle ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, and some parts even back to the Viking Age
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
, 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
Hornstull is an area in western Södermalm, Stockholm. Hornstull is actually the name of where the streets Hornsgatan and Långholmsgatan intersect...
came in use.
Göta highway started in the centre of Stockholm at the Old Castle of Stockholm
Tre kronor (castle)
Tre Kronor or Three Crowns was a castle located in Stockholm, Sweden, on the site where Stockholm Palace is today. It is believed to have been a citadel that Birger Jarl built into a royal castle in the middle of the 13th century...
in Gamla Stan
Gamla stan
Gamla stan , until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna , is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. The surrounding islets Riddarholmen, Helgeandsholmen, and Strömsborg are officially part of, but not colloquially included in, Gamla stan...
and led through Södermalm
Södermalm
Södermalm, often shortened to "Söder", is a district in central Stockholm. It covers the large island formerly called "Åsön". With a population of 99,685, it is one of the most densely populated districts of Scandinavia...
and the south suburbs of the town via Huddinge Municipality
Huddinge Municipality
Huddinge Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Huddinge, which is a part of Stockholm urban area.The municipality is the second most populated in Stockholm County....
, Botkyrka Municipality
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....
and Salem Municipality
Salem Municipality
Salem Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. The name traces its origins from Slaem in the 16th century, but was later changed to Salem, the Biblical name of Jerusalem...
to the city of Södertälje
Södertälje
Södertälje is a city and the seat of Södertälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 86,069 inhabitants in 2010.The industrial city, about south of Stockholm, is the home to truck maker Scania AB and a top 10 pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca....
, and then further on to Götaland
Götaland
Götaland , Gothia, Gothland, Gothenland, Gautland or Geatland is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises provinces...
, one of the three lands of Sweden
Lands of Sweden
The lands of Sweden are three traditional parts, essentially three collectives of provinces, in Sweden. These "lands" have no administrative function, and there is no official designation for this subdivision level...
.
Portions of the highway have been saved to posterity in only a few places. For example, it can be seen crossing the Årsta field (Årstafältet) in Enskede-Årsta, 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
Arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
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 a ancient monument
Ancient monument
An ancient monument is an early historical structure or monument worthy of preservation and study due to archaeological or heritage interest. In the United Kingdom it is a legal term, differing from the American term National Monument in being far more numerous and always man-made...
.