gamla stan.pdf

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English Guide Gamla Stana guide for short vistits to the oldest Stockholm island

A simple English tour guide that quickly leads you to the rich history of the OldTown. Clues are everywhere from earlier centuries, even from medieval days.

Wander & Discover Guides

Subway and bus connectionsto and from Old Town are easy to use.

To give you an idea of distance, it takesabout 12 minutes to walk diagonally(SW > NW) across the island.

Walking on to the island iseasy. There are six bridgesand a subway entrance.You can also come by car,

but parking is limited andquite expensive.

The Riksdagshuset (Swedish Parliament)

Stortorget (Great Square)

The Nobel Museum and Library

Storkyrkan (Great Church)

Highlights that you shouldnt miss.Kungliga Slottet (Royal Palace )

Tyska Kyrkan (German Church)

Riddarholmskyrkan (Riddarholms Church)

Wrangelska Palatset (Wrangels Palace)

Meander along the main streets and wander off into back alleys . . . or follow asuggested tour route. Notice that some of the main streets, sterlnggatan andVsterlnggatan, were actually footpaths in the 13th century. See 13th-century island

on the last page

by Terry LeBlancwww.leblanc.se/wander&discover

This eMap is free for your use only. Share it with your guests and friends.

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www.gicleestockholm.comto see Stockholm artwork


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The Riksdagshuset (SwedishParliament) can only be visited withguided tours.

Medeltidsmuseet (Museum

of Medieval Stockholm) isunderground and reached bya set of stairs. There areobjects and settingsfrom medievalStockholm.

Mynttorget (Mint Square) was once thelocation of the Royal Mint (1790), but today it isthe Kanslihuset (government ofce building)erected in the 1930s.

Riddarhuset (Knights House) is the 17th-

century House of Nobles.

Stortorget (Great Square) is the heart ofOld Town and the real beginning.

12th c. . The square is the intersection of theearliest paths across the island. This was thecitys rst trading/meeting place.

1290s. . Stockholm had become a verylarge town. Craftsmen who were working on

building the castle, the city wall, the church, the

monasteries, the Guild Hall and private houseswere frequenting the square.

1400s . . Political meetings were takingplace here and laws and ordinances were beingread from the Guild Hall. It was also a placeof execution, beheadings and punishment. Apillory stood on top of a stone gaol and wasused until the 1770s.

1520was the year of the Stockholm BloodBath. Christian II of Denmark made a surprise

arrest of 82 city burghers, bishops and nobility.

In a quick trial, their execution was ordered.Heads were displayed in a pyramid in thesquare.

1776. . The Stock Exchange was ofciallyopened (replacing the Guild Hall). It wasa great achievement on the part of a youngarchitect named Erik Palmstedt who managed tosqueeze the building into the irregular shapedmedieval site.

Grillska huset (#3 Stortorget) is a medieval

building. It has a painted ceiling that is worthseeing in Riddarsalen(Knights Hall).

Stortorgets Pumpen(Great Square well) wasalso designed by ErikPalmstedt. The well driedin the mid 1800s.

Heres where things are located

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Orange dots indicate the 13 doors in the

Doors of Old Town Stockholmbook

www.leblanc.se > Click on DOORSbookto fnd out how to buy the Doors of Old Town Stockholm


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Brsen (the Stock Exchange) designed by ErikPalmstedt in 1770s. The Nobel Museumand theSwedish Academyare also located here.

Behind the Finnish church, is an interestinggarden with a long at fountain.

At one end is the

Iron Boy,Old Townssmallest sculpture. It is 3.5 high.

Storkyrkan (Great Church) Stockholms 13th-century cathedral. The churchs nest artifactis its sculpture of St. Gran och Draken (St.George and the Dragon), a 15th-century Gothicmasterpiece of carving.

The Obelisk donated by Gustav III to thankthe citizens that defended Stockholm againstRussia in the war 1788-1790.

Kungliga Slottet (Royal Palace) opens into ahalf-circled shape courtyard where the changingof the guard takes place. The Palace InformationOffice, just beside Storkrykan, offers many tours.

Runestone/CannonOne of the buildings at

the corner of Prstgatanand Kkbrinken has anunusual corner protection.It is a rune stone andreads, Torsten andFrgun raised this stone inmemory of their son.

Kpmangatan (Merchants Street) is theoldest recorded street in Stockholm and itconnected Stortorget with Fisketorget (Fish

Market Square). At Kpmantorget there are twostatues worth seeing. Today a bronze copy ofthe St. Gran och Draken (St. George andthe Dragon) statue stands here. Beside it is thePrincess statue that symbolizes Stockholm.

Tyska Kyrkan (German Church) Since thebeginning of the 17th century this has been theGerman Church of Stockholm. It has a baroqueinterior and is exquisitely decorated.

Ehrenstrahlskahusetwas built in the 1660s bythe court painter, DavidKlcker, later knighted toEhrenstrahl.

Some early buildings can still be found. There are

17th century facades located at 5, 7 and 9Skomakargatan.

Two very unusual cabinets arenear Stortorget. One is a Telephone

booth and the other aPissoir(urinal). Each is beautifully designed,colorful and worth nding.

Mrten Trotzigs Grnd the OldTowns tiniest path. The alley is only 36 wide.

Prstgatan 78 iswhere the famous Swedishartist, Carl Larsson, was

born and lived his younglife. The building has nearchitectural elements, a1670 baroque portal andrococo doors from the1750s. It sounds elegant,

but when Carl lived here it was a slum area.

Jrntorget (Iron 2quare) was once the centerof the copper and iron trade in the 16th and 17thcenturies. At times in its long history it has beenthe place of punishment for wrongdoers.

In Jarntorget stands a statue of Evert Taube,the troubadour and Swedish national poet of theearly 1900s. He nonchalantly stands viewing thesquare, his sunglasses pushed up high on his

forehead. The sculpture is dated 1985 and wasdone by KG Beijemark.

There is another statue of Evert Taube on theisland of Riddarholmen. The statue is the work ofAstri Taube in 1983.

Family Statue by Pye Engstrm (1973) iscalled a living sculpture because the familymembers are moveable.

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www.leblanc.se > Click on DOORSbookto fnd out how to buy the Doors of Old Town Stockholm


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Iron Ties

Stockholm was a small island at the time shown here, about 1250-1300

Petersenskahuset(Petersens House) is a

beautiful private castlethat has been owned bymany prominent people,one being Aurura vonKnigsmarck. The vaulted

cellar is called Auroraafter her. The beautifulentrances are deceiving.The one on the left is justa fake . . . an expensivesence of humor.

Riddarholmen(the Knights Island) is closelylinked to the Old Town. Its chief landmark is theRiddarholmskyrkan (Knights Island Church)with its cast-iron spire.

Wrangelska Palatset (Wrangels Palace) built by NicodemusTessin the Older in the 1600s. It is also called Kungshuset (the Kings House) since themonarchy did live here 1697-1754. The Svea Court of Appeals is located here.

There is a detail that you will seehundreds of throughout the

island. They areJrn-ankarna(iron ties), a very important build-

ing element in the middle ages.

As you can see in the illustration,(1) a strip of iron is attached to

a horizontal beam which is thenplaced within the growing wall.

The ends that stick out of thebuilding (2) are made intoloops. The iron ties are put

through this loop (as a cotter pin).These structures hold buildings

together.

The earliest ties were verysimple and functional, but

later became a part (3) of thebuildings decoration.

More historical information is available at the Stockholms Stadsmuseum (the City Museum of Stockholm)

The 13th-century island super-imposed on todays island.

Terrys artwork can be bought online:www.leblanc.se/art or atwww.gicleestockholm.com

The shore line was about three meters higher than today. Bymid century, Birger Jarl had fortied the town and was creating atrading center. A town wall and a Borg (stronghold) werein place. German merchants of Lbeck were invited to settle

in the town and establish trade. This was thebeginning of the German period.

Stortorget (the Great Square) wasthe center of island activity. There wereimportant squares outside of the gatesand the main paths of the island connectedeverything Some of these paths are still mainstreets today; Kpmangatan 1(Merchant St.),Skomakargatan 2(Shoemaker St.) and Svartmangatan 3(Blackfriars St.).

One of the busiest places on the island was Korntorget (Jrntorget),rst as a corn market and later as an iron market. Outside of the town wall

were two busy footpaths, todays sterlnggatan and Vsterlnggatan(East and West Long Streets).

The Grmunkeklostret (Grey Brothers Monastery 1270-1527) was located on the islandlater named Riddarholmen (Knights Island).

Wander & Discover Guides by Terry LeBlancwww.leblanc.se/wander&discover

This eMap is free for your use only. Share it with your guests and friends.

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