is an

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

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 Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Stretching west from

Västerlånggatan Västerlånggatan ("the Western Long Street") is a street in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching southward between the squares Mynttorget and Järntorget, it follows the course of the city's now demolished 13th-century defen ...

down to

Munkbron Munkbron ( Swedish: "Monk's Bridge") is a public square on the western waterfront of Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Connected to the square are Stora Gråmunkegränd, Gåsgränd, Lilla Nygatan, Yxsmedsgränd, and Munkbr ...

and

Munkbroleden Munkbroleden ( Swedish: "Monk's Bridge Route") is a busy street passing along the western waterfront of Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching north from Slussen to Riddarhustorget, Munkbroleden passes by three squares ...

, it is crossed by

Stora Nygatan Stora Nygatan is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. The troubadour Carl Michael Bellman lived at number 1 in 1785-1787 and at number 20 (still present) in 1787–88. Description *Old names: ''nyegatun'' (1636), ' ...

, and forms a parallel street to

Storkyrkobrinken Storkyrkobrinken () is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Leading from Högvaktsterrassen ("Main Guard Terrace") near the Royal Palace down to Myntgatan and Riddarhustorget it forms a parallel street to Salvi ...

and Helga Lekamens Gränd.

History

The alley is named after the defensive tower ''Gråmunketornet'' ("Greyfriar's Tower") located in the city wall which used to pass along the eastern side of today's Västerlånggatan. The tower was named after the Greyfriars abbey on

Riddarholmen Riddarholmen (, "The Knights' Islet") is a small islet in central Stockholm, Sweden. The island forms part of Gamla Stan, the old town, and houses a number of private palaces dating back to the 17th century. The main landmark is the church Riddarh ...

, which at the time was called ''Gråmunkeholmen'' ("Greyfriar's Islet"). The alley appears in historical records as ''grabroder strate'' ("grey brother's street") in 1420 and ''gramunka grendenne'' (" hegrey monk's alley") in 1456. The first element, however, does not appear until 1728 when the alley to the south ( Helga Lekamens Gränd) was referred to as ''Lilla Gråmnukegränd'' ("Smaller Greyfriars Alley"), and the part of the alley west of Lilla Nygatan was named ''Schaleri Gränd'' after the doctor Peter Schallerus Starenflycht who owned the property in the western end. The name has been used for the entire alley since 1885. At number 5, is a flat with preserved wall paintings and a coffered ceiling from 1580. While sparsely used by the

Stockholm Beauty Council The Council for Urban Aesthetics in Stockholm (), officially The Council for the Protection Ecological and Aesthetic Matters (''Rådet till skydd för Stockholms skönhet'') is an advisory council of the Stockholm Municipality which inspects city p ...

since the city took it over in 1973, as of 2006 the flat will hopefully be made available to the general public.

References

External links

hitta.se - Location map and virtual walk
Streets in Stockholm {{Stockholm-road-stub

History

See also

References

External links