Brunnsgränd (
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
: "Well Alley") is an
alley
An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in the older parts of towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane ...
in
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. Officially, but not colloquially, Gamla stan ...
, the old town in central
Stockholm,
Sweden. Connecting
Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron (Swedish: "The Ship's Bridge") is both a street and a quay in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, stretching from the bridge Strömbron in front of the Royal Palace southward to Slussen.
The quay Skeppsbrokajen ru ...
to
Österlånggatan, it forms a parallel street to
Nygränd and
Skottgränd. It is the widest alley in the old town.
The alley, mentioned as ''brundzgrenden'' in 1526, is named after a
water well
A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. T ...
mentioned in 1461, when a
blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...
named Henrik was paid for having "forged on the well on 'Fisherman's Square'" (''smidat till brunnen på Fiskaretorget''). Historically, wells in cities were located in open spaces, and, oddly enough, neither a well or a square can be found near the present alley. During the Middle Ages and until the 1520s, however, a square called
Fisketorget was found between Brunnsgränd and the alley north of it,
Nygränd ("New Alley"), at the time the biggest in Stockholm connected to the central square
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 Big Square") through
Köpmangatan ("The Merchant's Street"). In the early 19th century, the well could still be found in the western end of the alley, but it has since been surrounded by buildings. Occasionally, the alley's name is erroneously associated with a fountain from 1912, located on Österlånggatan, under the statue of
Saint George and the Dragon.
See also
*
List of streets and squares in Gamla stan
This is an alphabetical list of streets, alley, squares, and other structures in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, including the islands Stadsholmen, Helgeandsholmen
Helgeandsholmen () is a small island in central Stockholm, Sweden. It ...
References
External links
hitta.se - Location map and virtual walk
Streets in Stockholm
{{Stockholm-road-stub