Why You Should Visit Gamla Stan in Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, full of history, ancient stories and mystery, is located on the small island of the same name in Stockholm. Gamla Stan is one of the best-preserved medieval city centres in Europe. An island of winding cobblestoned streets, well-preserved buildings and squares, it is where the changing of the guards occur daily at the Palace and where tourists throng to wander, shop and eat. If you delve deeper into the history you will find stories of executioners, ghosts and bloody killings, age-old rune stones and an alleyway that at its smallest width measures just 90cm (if you can find it that is)! Should you visit? Of course you should! Let us show you why.

Look out towards the skyline on the island of Riddarholmen from Gamla Stan and you cannot miss the church that dominates the view. The Riddarholmen Church was completed around 1300 and for over 300 years it was the burial places of the Swedish Kings and their consorts. Today it is under renovation and visitors are not allowed. The island of Riddarholmen can be visited on foot, no one lives there now, the buildings are used for government offices.

A narrow cobblestoned street that runs from North to South on Gamla Stan. Prastgatan is one of the oldest streets in Gamla Stan. Originally it was divided into two parts - Swedish and German. The Northern part of the street, also known as the Alley of Hell, housed criminals and it is where suicides were normal everyday happenings. The local executioner lived in this area. Executioners were prisoners who were sent to death themselves, to become an executioner one had to kill the previous one. Regardless of whether you were an executioner or just an ordinary prisioner your fate was already sealed. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).