Gamla Stan

This will be a short post. But to make up for it, I’ll publish three entries today.

I spent the morning in the Gamla Stan district of Stockholm. There are two reasons for this. For one, l love Gamla Stan.

The second reason for starting the day in Gamla Stan is that I have a three-hour activity booked starting at the far end of Gamla Stan from where I enter it when coming from my hotel. I’m still not moving quickly, so I didn’t want to start my day too far from where that activity begins.

Loyal readers can probably easily and correctly guess what the three-hour activity that starts at 11:30 is. But I’ll leave the disloyal readers in the dark to try to encourage them to read that entry once I’ve posted it, which I probably will already have done unless you read this fairly contemporaneously with my having written it. Loyal readers will read that post without any encouragement from me. Otherwise, I’ll stop calling them loyal readers.

Regarding my continuing plodding perambulation, loyal readers might want to know this morning’s contribution to my left-foot saga.

For the benefit of those of you who are disloyal readers and haven’t read the last few episodes of this journal, a few days ago, my left foot started hurting whenever I put pressure on it. Walking puts pressure on it. I do a lot of walking when I travel. Now that you disloyal readers are caught up., let’s continue.

This morning, my left foot was still painful when I put pressure on it, but not as excruciating as it was toward the end of the day yesterday. I was still walking slowly and limping a bit this morning, but it was not quite as bad as it was yesterday.

I wrote this entry after completing all of my day’s activities. So I’m able to time travel and come back to let you know that the pain seemed to gradually subside as the day wore on. And my limping was less pronounced. I’m hopeful that is a sign that my left foot is on its way to healing. Now that I’ve said that, there’s at least one reader of this journal who informed me that I have to knock on wood after having said it. I just did that. So, now it has to come true.

The Swedes are so practical. Gamla Stan is the oldest part of Stockholm. And Gamla Stan is Swedish for Old Town. See what they did there? They formally and officially called it what it is. Although considering the Swedes’ penchant for smushing words together to form a single word, I’m surprised they didn’t call it Gamlastan.

About Gamla Stan

What I love about Gamla Stan is the old charm of the place. The streets are all cobblestone. I don’t know if cars are banned on many of the streets or if traffic is so light that you never see any cars on many of them. The buildings are low-rise or at most mid-rise. And each is generally painted one colour from a palette of deep hues.

Gamla Stan is on three sort-of islands. I say sort-of islands because when I look at the map, the only thing that seems to be separating the island from the mainland on the south side is a narrow canal. And I say mainland conditionally. Stockholm is in the middle of an archipelago. I think that what I’m calling the mainland may be a much bigger island. It’s hard to tell.

Island though it may be, there are a few bridges that make Gamla Stan easily accessible, particularly for pedestrians.

It is a charming place. That’s a big part of why, except for the boat tour I took yesterday, every sight I’ve visited in Stockholm up to and including this morning has been in Gamla Stan, including the Stockholm, Cathedral, the Nobel Prize Museum, and the Stockholm Palace.

Don’t worry, I will be visiting sites outside Gamla Stan on this trip, including one today. But I hope to get back and absorb its charm some more.

Beyond just wandering as much as my feet would take me. I did set out for two specific destinations within Gamma this morning, a square and a church.

Stortorget

I was in Stortorget on my first day in Stockholm, but I didn’t know it. Stortorget is Stockholm’s oldest public Square. It’s not particularly large, and the square itself is charming, but not gorgeous. But there are some beautiful old buildings around it.

The Nobel Prize Museum, which I visited on my first day in Stockholm, is situated on one side of Stortorget. When I went there, I saw the Square, thought to myself, “isn’t this nice,” and went into the Nobel Prize Museum. If I skipped ahead in my guidebook or walking tour app, I would’ve known I was in Stortorget. That’s why you should always skip to the end of the book first.

My walking tour app recommends Stortorget as a must-see. My guidebooks talk about it as well. When I decided to start my day in the general direction of where I had to be in the late morning, I plunked “Stortorget” into Apple Maps and headed there. When I got there, I recognized it immediately. The big “Nobel Prize Museum” sign on that building helped.

Many of the buildings around the square date from the 17th century. However, the stock exchange building, which is also beside the square, was first contemplated in 1667, but it took 100 years to build due to some wars, so it didn’t appear until the 18th century.

You may be wondering how Stortorget got its name. Or you may not, but I’ll tell you anyway. “Stortorget” is a Swedish word that translates to “main square,” “big square,” or “grand square.” Swedes are quite plain talkers, aren’t they? I think “main” and “grand” are appropriate, but it’s not particularly big.

There is a dark, old, sculpted fountain in Stortoget. Water pours out of a pipe emanating from a devilish creature’s mouth. I think it’s drinking water, but you might want to check on that before you drink from it.

After Stortorget, I took a walk over to another site recommended by both my guidebook and my walking tour app, although not as highly, Riddarholmskyrkan.

Riddarholmskyrkan

“Riddarholmskyrkan” translates to “Riddarholm Church.” “Riddarholm” translates to I don’t know what, but the church is located on Riddarholm Island, one of the islands of Gamla Stan.

It has been expanded a few times and has had a few changes made, but Riddarholmskyrkan dates back to the 13th century. It was built on the site of an old Greyfriars Abbey. It surprised me to learn that there was a Greyfriars Abbey in Stockholm.

Riddarholmskyrkan became the church of the Order of the Seraphim when the order was instituted in 1748.

In addition, starting with the funeral of Gustav II Adolf in 1634, all monarchs until Gustav V in 1950 were buried there, except Queen Kristina.

The church’s tall spire is made of cast-iron latticework, but it wasn’t always so. The current spire was erected after a fire in 1835 destroyed the church’s spine, some of its roof, and its spire.

Inside, Riddarholmskyrkan is dark and sombre. The lower portions of the side walls are largely covered by what look like 2D crests. What looks like 3D coats of arms hang higher up.

Just in front of the altar are two large tombs topped with supine sculptures. According to a sign in the church, it’s been recorded that one of those tombs contains the remains of the church’s founder and principal donor, King Magnus Ladulas (1240-90). However, the sign was worded in such a way as to make me think there is some doubt about that. The occupant of the other tomb is said to be
King Karl Knutsson Bonde (1408-70).

There is also a small crypt below the church. A half-flight of stairs leads down to it, but the entrance is blocked by a locked wrought-iron door. The bars of the door are spaced widely enough that it’s easy to point a camera lens through them, which is what I did.

After I left the church, I wandered around Gamla Stan a bit, heading to the meeting point for my midday activity.

There are still specific sights I haven’t been to in Gamla Stan (mostly buildings to view only from the outside), and streets there I haven’t roamed. I hope I get the chance to return after today. But, first, there is that midday activity.

I’ve still got two more entries to write today. So that’s quite enough about this morning.