is an

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

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 ...

. Stretching from

Västerlånggatan Västerlånggatan ("the Western Long Street") is a street in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching southward between the squares Mynttorget and Järntorget, it follows the course of the city's now demolished 13th-century defen ...

Myntgatan Myntgatan () is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching west from Mynttorget over to Riddarhustorget, it is crossed by the streets Salviigränd, Rådhusgränd, Riddarhusgränd, and Storkyrkobrinken. Mo ...

, it is the northernmost alley of the former street. The alley is named after the diplomat and Councillor

Johan Adler Salvius Johan Adler Salvius (born in 1590 in Strängnäs; died on 24 August 1652 in Stockholm) was a Swedish baron of Örneholm, chancellor, confidant and representative of the Christina, Queen of Sweden at the peace negotiations at Osnabrück and respo ...

(1590–1652) (''Welb-Johan Adler Salvij gränd'', 1641; ''Salvij grendhen'', 1652) who made a fortune marrying the widow of the goldsmith Lorens Hartman and who owned several properties in the alley. At the time the alley included parts of today's Myntgatan, and Salvius also owned buildings on the opposite side of Myntgatan where today Kanslihuset (the "Chancellery House") is found. The first element of the name, ''Salvii'', is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...

meaning ''Salvius (e.g. "...of Salvius"). It remains uncertain, however, which alley was actually referred to using the present name in the 17th century, and, as the neighbourhood have been considerably altered while poorly documented, only the identity of the man carrying the name in question remains irrefutable. On the second floor on number 1, the only building in that block not part of the Parliament administration, is a suite of rooms created by

Louis Masreliez Louis Masreliez (1748 – 19 March 1810), born Adrien Louis Masreliez, was a French-born, Sweden, Swedish Painting, painter and interior designer. Biography Masreliez was born in Paris and came to Sweden at the age of 5 in 1753. He was the son o ...

for the tradesman and bachelor Wilhelm Schwardz in 1795. Sensuously dressed up in pastel, grey, and gold, the elegant Gustavian

Classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

interiors features lighted candles, cut-glass chandeliers,

taffeta Taffeta (archaically spelled taffety or taffata) is a crisp, smooth, plain woven fabric made from silk, nylon, cuprammonium rayons, acetate, or polyester. The word came into Middle English via Old French and Old Italian, which borrowed the Pers ...

curtains, and friezes and medallions displaying a multitude of classical gods and figures, all perfectly restored by the current owner, the insurance company

Skandia Skandia is a Swedish financial services corporation that provides insurance, banking and asset management services. Between 2006 and 2015, the financial group underwent major changes. From an insurance company with the main emphasis on non-l ...

References

External links

hitta.se - Location map and virtual walkStockholmskällan - Historical photos
Streets in Stockholm {{Stockholm-road-stub

See also

References

External links