Gnesta is a town in Södermanland in Sweden. The town itself has around 5,500 inhabitants; half the population of the municipality, Gnesta kommun.

Understand

Gnesta was built at the main rail line between Stockholm and Gothenburg. Nowadays, much of the population commutes to Stockholm or nearby Södertälje.

Gnesta's cityscape is strongly influenced by the railway and the station community that emerged at the end of the 19th century. There are significant buildings from all of Gnesta's eras. This includes the railway station (1907), Gnesta brewery (1903) and the so-called soap factory (1950), designed by Ralph Erskine .

Some scenes of the Swedish film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo were filmed in Gnesta.

Get in

Gnesta is connected to Stockholm via Södertälje with the Stockholm commuter train (SL). Regional trains between Stockholm and Hallsberg (the so-called Sörmlandspilen) stop in Gnesta. Adjacent to the railway is also the town's bus station, from where Länstrafiken operates, e.g. from Nyköping, Flen, Strängnäs and Eskilstuna (on some tours with changes).

Major roads in connection with Gnesta are national highway 57 which connects to E4 to the east and ends in Katrineholm to the west. County road 224 runs in a southern direction and connects to the E4 at Lästringe.

The nearest airport is Skavsta in Nyköping. It is also possible to take the commuter train via Stockholm to Arlanda Airport.

See

• Plenty of archaeological sites.
• 1 The railway station. On October 1, 1861, the Järna -Gnesta railway was inaugurated and thus also the first station house, which became a role model for many others through the so-called Gnesta model. The station building was built in 1907 and designed by SJ's then chief architect Folke Zettervall. The station, which is typical of the time around the turn of the century, is built in stone and brick. SJ's traffic was closed in 1968 but resumed in 2007. Next to the station building there is also a water horse which is one of the few preserved along the Western main line.  
• The old water tower. Until the 19th century, the Gnestaborns got their drinking water from wells, but in 1897 a water cistern was inaugurated on Gnestahöjden where water was pumped from Frösjön via a pump house on Östra Storgatan. As Gnesta grew and several new industries were opened, the need for water also increased, and in 1914 the water tower, designed by Helge Gustaf Torulf , was inaugurated. The master builder was Gnestabon Edvard Blomberg. The 28-meter high water tower was replaced by a new one in 1977. 
• Gnesta Brewery (Gnesta bryggeri). Gnesta brewery was established in the 1870s, but the premises that can be seen today were built around the turn of the century in 1900. When the production suffered from financial difficulties, it was bought up by Wårby Bryggerier in 1953. Operations at the brewery were closed ten years later, in 1963.