Fisketorget (

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 ...

: "Fishery Square") or Fiskaretorget ("Fishermen's Square") is a historical

public square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

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 Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

. It was once located on the east shore of the island Stadsholmen, between the present streets

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

and

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 ...

, and between the present alleys

Nygränd Nygränd ( sv, New Alley) is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, connecting Skeppsbron to Österlånggatan. ; Old names : ''Niia grenden'' (1553), ''Nygrenden'' (1570) Until the early 1520s, a fish market ('' Fisketorge ...

("New Alley") and Brunnsgränd ("Well's Alley"). As Stockholm grew rapidly during the 14th century, the city within the

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

s became cramped for space, and the surrounding shores started to be built upon and subsequently by land fillings between the bridges extended into the water. Thus, elongated blocks appeared between narrow alleys along the eastern shore of the city, with the exception of the area outside the only eastern

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, go ...

— the so-called ''Köpmanporten'' ("Merchant's Gate") which extended

Köpmangatan Köpmangatan ( Swedish: "The Merchant Street") is a street in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. A parallel street to Trädgårdsgatan, it stretches from the central square Stortorget to Köpmantorget, intercepted by Trädgårdstvä ...

("Merchant's Street) from the city's central square, Stortorget ("Large Square"), beyond the city wall over Köpmanbrinken. Originally, the marketplace was called ''Fiskestrand'' ("Fishery Shore") and also encompassed a section of the shoreline stretching north up to the present alley Skeppar Karls Gränd. From 1413, the square was probably flanked by two defensive towers, some major building featuring

stepped gable A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in ...

s, and several one-storey buildings. In 1461, 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'' is mentioned as having forged on 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 ...

on the square, at the time the biggest in Stockholm. The well eventually gave the southern alley its name and was still found in the alley until the 19th century. The square was, however, was started to be built upon during the early 1520s, which eventually led to the present block on the location, ''Diana'', which still contains the well.

References

See also