Stortorget (, "The Big Square") is a square in Malmö. Construction began in 1538 with the demolition of The Monastery of the Holy Spirit (''Heligandsklostret''), which with its cemetery occupied about 70% of the area of the future square. A note in 1542 refers to the site as ''thet ny torg'' ("the new square"). The stately Malmö

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

(''Rådhuset''), the largest of its kind in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

at the time, located on the eastern side of the square, was inaugurated in 1547. At Stortorget are The Governor's Residence, Malmö Town Hall, Jørgen Kock's House, the Kramer Hotel, and The Lion Pharmacy (''Apoteket Lejonet''). In the middle of the square stands an equestrian statue of King Charles X Gustav, sculpted by

John Börjeson Johan Laurentius Helenus Börjeson (30 December 1835 – 29 January 1910) was a Swedish sculptor. Börjeson studied in Rome and Paris. He was a professor at Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm 1886–1907. Gallery File:Carl_Vilhelm_Sche ...

and created in connection with the Craft and Industry Exhibition in Malmö in 1896. The statue was initiated by the newspaperman and politician Carl Herslow and the history professor Martin Weibull. Stortorget has historically been Malmö's most central square, but with the electrification of the tramway, this role was increasingly taken over by Gustav Adolf's square. Stortorget was served by horsecars in 1887–1907, horse-drawn buses in 1898-1907 and electric trams in 1906–1957. Just southwest of Stortorget is Lilla torg, and about 250 m straight south (along Södergatan) is Gustav Adolfs torg. As a curiosity, the

meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

13° east passes through Stortorget, which means that its mean solar time is exactly (if you are standing in the right place) eight minutes behind Central European Time (i.e. Swedish Standard Time).

Gallery

File:Joergenkock3.jpg, File:Residenset, Malmö 2.jpg, File:Apoteket lejonet - 2012-03-30 (6925487902).jpg, File:Malmö, statue of Carl X Gustav.JPG,

References

{{Malmö Geography of Malmö History of Malmö History of the Øresund Region History of Scandinavia History of Skåne County History of Scania Øresund Region Squares in Sweden Tourist attractions in Malmö Tourist attractions in the Øresund Region Tourist attractions in Skåne County