Gåstorget ( Swedish: "Goose Square") is a small

public square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...

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. Gamla Stan includes the surrounding islets ...

, the old town in central

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, situated between the two alleys

Överskärargränd Överskärargränd is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching from Västerlånggatan to Stora Nygatan passing on the south side of Gåstorget, it forms a parallel street to Gåsgränd and Sven Vintappares ...

and

Gåsgränd Gåsgränd ( Swedish: "Goose Alley") is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Connecting the streets Västerlånggatan, Stora Nygatan Stora Nygatan is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Swede ...

History

In 1730, city engineer

Johan Eberhard Carlberg Johan Eberhard Carlberg (24 February 1683 in Gothenburg, Sweden – 22 October 1773 in Stockholm) was a Swedish fortification officer and architect. He was Gothenburg's first city engineer, a position he held from 1717 until 1727. In 1727, he was ...

proposed that spaces for

horse-drawn vehicle A horse-drawn vehicle is a piece of equipment pulled by one or more horses. These vehicles typically have two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have mostly been replaced by auto ...

be created at various locations though to the city, mostly to facilitate fire fighting. In 1796 such a space was created on the present location. Though the square was not given an official name, it was informally referred to as ''Gåsplan'' ("Goose Plain") or ''Gåsgtorget''. A 1981 proposal to name the square after the troubadour

Evert Taube Axel Evert Taube (; 12 March 1890 – 31 January 1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th c ...

was rejected, and the common name was made official.

Sculpture

On the square is a one metre tall bronze sculpture on a granite base, ''Tungviktare'' ("Heavyweights") from 1967 by the sculptor .

References

Squares in Stockholm {{Stockholm-geo-stub

History

Sculpture

See also

References