Julita Abbey

[1] The monastery was founded in 1160 at Viby, close to Sigtuna, but under the patronage of King Knut Eriksson (ca 1150 – died 1195) who donated land and a right to parts of the fishing at Älvkarleby.

It continued to receive rich donations from King Erik Knutsson (1210–1216), and later from other members of the aristocracy and royal circles.

[1] [2] At the time of the Protestant Reformation, King Gustavus Vasa appropriated the abbey in accordance with the Reduction of Gustav I of Sweden and gave it in fief to Olof Arvidsson, a bailiff in Nyköping, in 1527.

The secular estate thus created later had various possessors, including diplomat Matthias Palbitzki and members of the Lewenhaupt family.

The manor is now a large open-air museum, incorporating a small part of the abbey in the basement of one of its wings, which is open to the public.