8. Vicarage and Tavern

One of the traditional duties of country people in Sweden was to provide travelling royalty and officials with horse or boat transport, food and lodging. As time went by soldiers and others began demanding the same privileges and the system became untenable. Taking advantage of hospitality in this way had been forbidden as early as 1279, but the law had not been observed and another attempt to solve the problem was made in 1649. A law was passed providing for setting up inns providing transport at a fixed tarriff along public highways. A corresponding system was to be set up for boat transport along waterways. A traveller from Dalarö to Stockholm in the mid-18th century could visit a large number of inns along the way, in places like Djurhamn, Strömma, Kolström and Fjäderholmarna.

In 1659, Josef Månsson, the same man who later started building Djurö Chapel, obtained a license to open a waterside tavern with transport duty. In 1786 the tavern was rebuilt as a residence for the priest and his family. The yellow timber building we see today was built in 1834. At the west end of the house there is an archway leading to the old tavern, which is now the basement of the house. This is probably one of the archipelago’s oldest secular buildings.

To get to stop number 9 go up to the little house on the hill.