Katarina Kyrka (Catherine's Church), Stockholm

Built on the site of the famous Stockholm Bloodbath, Katarina Kyrka (Catherine's Church) is one of the main and best known churches in the Swedish capital. It has a long history and took many years to build, from 1656 to 1695, being severely delayed by the shortage of funds of the then King Charles X of Sweden, under whose reign its construction had started. The church was named in honor of his mother, Princess Catherine.

The building reflects stylistic design of three architects including Jean de la Vallée, the original architect; Göran Josua Adelcrantz, the city architect, who designed a larger, octagonal tower and supervised the reconstruction of the church in 1723 following the first fire that ravaged it together with half of all the neighboring buildings in the parish; and Ove Hidemark, the architect who oversaw its reconstruction in 1990, when all but the exterior walls burned to the ground during the second fire, on May 17, 1990. The latter reconstruction took many painstaking years, with the utmost care taken to replicate the church's original 17th century appearance using the materials common for that period. The new organ was built by J. L. van den Heuvel Orgelbouw in the Netherlands.

Among the prominent Swedes buried in the church graveyard are the Swedish statesman and regent of Sweden in 1470–1497 and 1501–1503 Sten Sture the Elder, football player Sven Bergqvist, popular Dutch-Swedish singer Cornelis Vreeswijk, and the assassinated in 2003 Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.

Karl XII's Stair is the double staircase that leads from the cemetery up to the southern entrance of the church, and was built sometime between 1712 and 1715. It was named after Karl (Charles) XII of Sweden, who was the king at the time, and was dedicated in 1715, as indicated by the date on the portion on the stair's landing. The railing was made by the blacksmith, Benjamin Roth, and renovated by his son, Carl Roth, in 1776. On the pillars on either side of the stair is engraved a poem about Karl XII.