Köpmantorget ( Swedish: "Merchant's Square") is a small

public square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...

Gamla stan Gamla Stan (, "The Old Town"), until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna ("The Town between the Bridges"), is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla Stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. Gamla Stan includes the surrounding islets ...

, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is located between the street Köpmangatan to the west and between two slopes collectively named

Köpmanbrinken Köpmanbrinken ( Swedish: "Merchant's Slope") is a street composed of two slopes, in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Both slopes connect the street Österlånggatan west up to the small Köpmantorget and the street Köpman ...

, both of which lead down to the street

Österlånggatan is a street in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching southward from Slottsbacken to Järntorget (Stockholm), Järntorget, it forms a parallel street to Baggensgatan and Skeppsbron. Major sights include the statue of Saint Ge ...

. On its western side, two streets lead north and south:

Bollhusgränd Bollhusgränd ( Swedish: "Ball House Alley") is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Named after Bollhuset, a historical theatre, it connects Slottsbacken to Köpmantorget, and as Baggensgatan extends the alley fu ...

and

Baggensgatan Baggensgatan is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Forming a southern extension to the street Bollhusgränd near the square Köpmantorget, it stretches to the southern end of Svartmangatan. It forms a parallel ...

respectively.

History

This small square was, notwithstanding the name, never used as a market. Instead, when it first appeared in historical records on a map dated 1733 as ''Kiöpmanne T.'', it was named after its location on the eastern end of Köpmangatan, the street leading to

Stortorget Stortorget (, "the Grand Square") is a public square in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is the oldest square in Stockholm, the historical centre on which the medieval urban conglomeration gradually came into being. To ...

, the square which used to be the main market place in Stockholm for centuries. Before 1685, the two blocks north and south of the square were united and on the location was a vault (''Köpmanvalvet'') during the Middle Ages forming one of the city gates (''Köpmanporten''). The penultimate name referring to the square appears in historical records as late as 1728 in the form ''Kiöpmans Hwalwet''. In 1912, the

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

sculpture ''

Saint George and the Dragon In a legend, Saint Georgea soldier venerated in Christianity—defeats a dragon. The story goes that the dragon originally extorted tribute from villagers. When they ran out of livestock and trinkets for the dragon, they started giving up a huma ...

'', a replica of

Bernt Notke Bernt Notke (; – before May 1509) was a late Gothic artist from the Baltic region. He has been described as one of the foremost artists of his time in northern Europe. Life Very little is known about the life of Bernt Notke. The Notke fa ...

's original, was placed in the square. The original is in

Storkyrkan Storkyrkan (, ), also called Stockholms domkyrka (Stockholm Cathedral) and Sankt Nikolai kyrka (Church of Saint Nicholas), is the oldest church in Stockholm. Storkyrkan lies in the centre of Stockholm in Gamla stan, between Stockholm Palace and ...

References

External links

*
hitta.se - Location map and virtual walk
Squares in Stockholm {{Stockholm-geo-stub

History

See also

References

External links