Fittja gård

Fittja gård is a former manor, coaching inn and station for post riders in Fittja, Botkyrka Municipality, , east-central Sweden. Fittja Värdshus, attached to it, was one of the largest travellers' hostels in Sweden during the 17th and 18th centuries. From 1660 to 1916 the Tingsrätt (district court) for the Svartlösa Hundred was located on the estate, and the present Fittja gård dates to 1812. According to the , the buildings are well-preserved and valued as a cultural heritage. Fittja gård is the headquarters of a mångkulturellt centrum (multicultural centre) founded in 1987.

Fittja gård is first mentioned in a letter of tenancy dated to 1299, and the village of Fittja was settled in the Middle Ages. During the Protestant Reformation, the estate was confiscated; its land was worked by local farmers until 1631, when Erik van der Linde (owner of the nearby Lindhovens gård on Lake Aspen) took possession.

In 1633, a new road was begun to replace the ancient Göta highway between Stockholm and Helsingborg: Södertäljevägen, later known as Riksväg 1. It was completed in 1669 with a bridge at the head of Lake Alby at Fittja Point; Fittja gård was then on the main highway, a day's drive—1 ¹⁄₂ Uppland miles, or 16 kilometres (9.9 mi)—by horse and cart from Stockholm. A coaching inn was established; travellers made their first change of horses here on their journey south from Stockholm, and royal permission was obtained to serve food and drink. The first innkeeper was Gustaf Mattsson, a Stockholm alderman who set up a dining establishment in 1663 in a building constructed at his own expense. The hostel opened in 1666, with 20 horses for travellers (although many complaints of worn-out and otherwise unsatisfactory horses are recorded). In 1667 Fittja gård also became a station for post riders, with six riders and twelve horses in their own stable. The establishment also included a farm, a distillery and a large brickworks. The Tingsrätt for the Svartlösa Hundred moved to Fittja gård, remaining there until 1916.

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