Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
red-brick columns, giving a warm colouring to the rest of the building. Much is
made of the fifteenth-century Gothic sculpture of St George and the Dragon (see
p.357), certainly an animated piece but easily overshadowed by the royal pews
- more like golden billowing thrones - and the monumental black-and-silver
altarpiece. Fans of organ music will enjoy the recitals that often take place on
hursdays at 8pm (50kr).
Stortorget
Stortorget
, Gamla Stan's main square, one block south of Storkyrkan along either
Trångsund or Källargränd, is a handsome and elegantly proportioned space crowded
with eighteenth-century buildings. In 1520, Christian II used the square as an
execution site during the “Stockholm Bloodbath” (see p.357), dispatching his
opposition en masse with bloody finality. Now, as then, the streets
Västerlånggatan
,
Österlånggatan
,
Stora Nygatan
and
Lilla Nygatan
run the length of the Old Town,
although today their time-worn buildings harbour a succession of art-and-craft shops
and restaurants. Happily, the consumerism here is largely unobtrusive, and in summer
buskers and evening strollers clog the narrow alleyways, making it an entertaining place
to wander or to stop for a bite to eat. There are few real targets, though at some stage
you'll probably pass
Köpmantorget
square (off Österlånggatan), where there's a replica
of the George and Dragon statue inside the Storkyrkan. Take every opportunity, too, to
wander up side streets, where you'll find fading coats of arms, covered alleys and worn
cobbles at every turn.
Tyska kyrkan
German Church • On Kindstugatan, just off Västerlånggatan • May-Aug Mon-Sat 11am-5pm, Sun 12.30-5pm; Sept-April Sat & Sun
noon-4pm • Free • Gamla Stan T-bana
Once belonging to Stockholm's medieval German merchants,
Tyska kyrkan
served as
the meeting place of the Guild of St Gertrude. A copper-roofed red-brick building atop
a rise, it was enlarged in the seventeenth century when Baroque decorators got hold of
it: the result, a richly fashioned interior with the pulpit dominating the nave, is
outstanding. The royal gallery in one corner - designed by Tessin the Elder - adds to
the overall elegance of this church, one of Stockholm's most impressive.
Riddarhuset
House of the Nobility • Riddarhustorget 10 • Mon-Fri 11.30am-12.30pm • 50kr •
W
riddarhuset.se • Gamla Stan T-bana
From Storkyrkan, it's a five-minute stroll west along Storkyrkobrinken to the
handsome, seventeenth-century Baroque
Riddarhuset
. Its Great Hall was used by the
Swedish aristocracy for two hundred years for parliamentary debate until a law was
passed in 1865 to create Sweden's current two-chamber parliament. The nobility's coats
of arms - around two and a half thousand of them - are splattered across the walls.
Take a peek at the Chancery downstairs, which stores heraldic bone china by the
shelf-load and has racks full of fancy signet rings - essential accessories for the
eighteenth-century noble-about-town.
Riddarholmen
and
Riddarholmskyrkan
Birger Jarls torg 3 • Mid-May to Sept daily 10am-5pm • 30kr • Gamla Stan T-bana
Riddarhuset shouldn't really be seen in isolation. It's only a matter of seconds to
cross the bridge onto
Riddarholmen
, and thus to
Riddarholmskyrkan.
Originally a
Franciscan monastery, the church has been the burial place of Swedish royalty for
over six centuries. Since Magnus Ladulås was sealed up here in 1290, his successors
