Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
• Continue through the yard, cross Trädgårdsgatan, go down the tiny lane
to Köpmangatan (the medieval merchants' street, now popular with antiques
dealers), turn right, and head for Stortorget, the old square.
Stortorget, Stockholm's Oldest Square:
Colorful old buildings
topped with gables line this square, which was the heart of medieval Stock-
holm(pop.6,000in1400).Thiswaswherethemanytangledlanesintersected,
becoming the natural center for shopping and the town well. Today Stortorget
is home to tourists, concerts, occasional demonstrators, and—in
winter—Christmas shoppers at an outdoor market.
The grand building on the right is the
Stock Exchange.
It now houses the
noble Nobel Museum (described later, under “Sights in Stockholm”). On the
immediate left is the social-services agency
Stockholms Stadsmission
(offer-
ing the cheapest and best lunch around at the recommended Grillska Huset).
If you peek into one wing of the café, you'll get a fine look at the richly dec-
orated ceilings characteristic of Gamla Stan in the 17th century. The exotic
flowers and animals implied that the people who lived or worked here were
worldly. Stockholms Stadsmission's trendy secondhand shop is just across the
square at Trångsund 8. The town well is still a popular meeting point. Scan the
fine old facades.
The site of the
Stockholm Bloodbath
of 1520, this square has a notorious
history. During a Danish power grab, many of Stockholm's movers and
shakers who had challenged Danish rule—Swedish aristocracy, leading mer-
chants, and priests—were rounded up, brought here, and beheaded. Rivers of
blood were said to have flowed through the streets. Legend holds that the 80
or so white stones in the fine red facade across the square symbolize the vic-
tims. (One victim's son escaped, went into hiding, and resurfaced to lead a
Swedish revolt against the Danish rulers. Three years later, the Swedes elec-
ted that rebel, Gustav Vasa, as their first king. He went on to usher in a great
period in Swedish history—the Swedish Renaissance.) This square long held
the town's pillory.
• At the far end of the square (under the finest gables), turn right and follow
Trångsund toward the cathedral.
