Myntgatan (, "the Coin Street") is a
street 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. Stretching west from
Mynttorget
Mynttorget (, "the Coin Square") is a public square in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden.
Setting
From the square the bridge Stallbron leads over to the Parliament island Helgeandsholmen; to the west the street Myntgata ...
over to
Riddarhustorget, it is crossed by the streets
Salviigränd,
Rådhusgränd
Rådhusgränd (Swedish: "Town Hall Alley") is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching from the junction between the street Myntgatan and the square Riddarhustorget, and passing between the Bonde Palace an ...
,
Riddarhusgränd, and
Storkyrkobrinken.
Most of the buildings surrounding the street are occupied by either the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
or the
Supreme Court.
History
While the square ''Mynttorget'' was named for its proximity to the Royal
Mint
MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...
and is present on a map dated 1733 AD, the name of the street ''Myntgatan'' is most likely much younger. On a map from the 1630s it is called ''Skattmestere Gattun'' ("Treasurer's Street"), probably in reference to
Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna
Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna af Korsholm och Wasa, 1st Count of Korsholma and Vaasa, Finnish: ''Gabriel Pentinpoika Oxenstierna'', (18 March 1586 at Lindholmen Castle, Västergötland – 12 December 1656 at Edsberg Manor, Sollentuna) was a ...
(1586–1656) who owned a single land parcel by the street. It has also been referred to as
Salviigränd.
[''Gatunamn'', p 61-62]
Following the completion of
Stora Nygatan in the 1660s, it was realized that this new
boulevard
A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway.
Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls.
In American usage, boulevards may ...
-like street, a pride for a still largely medieval Stockholm, could not end up blindly in what was then a peripheral end of the city – an insight which led to the gradual creation of Myntgatan which forms a perpendicular angle to Stora Nygatan in the
Baroque manner of the era.
[Hall, p 61]
The street was thus extended east to Mynttorget as the latter was created in 1672 and the old defensive tower, ''Norre port'', was demolished. It was then called ''Riddargatan'' ("Knight's Street") or ''Riddarhusgatan'' ("Knight's House Street") until the late-19th century in references to
Riddarhuset
The House of Nobility ( sv, Riddarhuset) in Stockholm, Sweden, is a corporation and a building that maintains records and acts as an interest group on behalf of the Swedish nobility.
Name
The name is literally translated as ''House of Knights' ...
, but apparently different names were used for the eastern and western ends of the street.
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 ...
*
History of Stockholm
The history of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, for many centuries coincided with the development of what is today known as Gamla stan, the Stockholm Old Town. Stockholm's ''raison d'être'' always was to be the Swedish capital and by far the large ...
Notes
References
*
*
External links
hitta.se - Location map and virtual walk
Streets in Stockholm
Odonyms referring to a building
{{Stockholm-road-stub