Page:EB1911 - Volume 25.djvu/959

Rh the Royal Palace is the Storkyrka (great church), dedicated to St Nicholas, the oldest church of Stockholm, though greatly altered from its original state. The date of its foundation is 1264; but it was practically rebuilt in 1726-1743. Within it is richly adorned with paintings and wood-carving. Staden is the commercial centre of the city. At the broad shipping quay (Skeppsbro) which flanks the palace on the north and east, most of the sea-going steamers lie; and the exchange, custom-house, numerous banks and merchants' offices are in the immediate vicinity. Riddarholmen (nobles' island), lying immediately west of Stadholmen, contains the old Franciscan church (Riddarholmskyrka), no longer used for regular service, which since the time of Gustavus Adolphus has been the burial-place of the royal family. It contains many trophies of the European wars of Sweden. On one side of it stands the old house of parliament; on the other a statue of Birger Jarl, the reputed founder of the city. On Riddarholm also are various government offices, and most of the steamers for Mälar and the inland navigation lie alongside its quays.

Staden is connected with Norrmalm by the Norrbro (north bridge) and Vasabro, the first crossing Helgeandsholmen (the island of the Holy Spirit), on which are the new

Houses of Parliament and the Bank of Sweden. A third bridge connects with the main thoroughfare of Norrmalm, Drottningsgatan (Queen Street). The Norrbro gives upon Gustaf-Adolfs-Torg, where a statue of that king stands between the royal theatre, royal opera house and the palace of the crown prince. Norrmalm is the finest quarter of the city, with broad straight streets, several open spaces with gardens, and handsome buildings. East and north of the theatre royal, the

Karl-den-Tolftes-Torg and Kungsträdgård (royal garden) form the most favoured winter promenade. There are a statue of Charles XII. and a fountain with allegorical figures, by J. P. Molin, also a statue of Charles XIII., and in the small Berzelii Park close at hand one of the chemist J. J. Berzelius. Near Drottningsgatan is the Klara church, the burial-place of the poet K. M. Bellman, and west of this, occupying one side of a square, is the central railway station. In the building of the academy of science is the national museum of natural history, including mineralogical, zoological, and ethnographical departments. Drottningsgatan terminates at the observatory, on a rocky eminence, near which are the offices for the distribution of the Nobel fund. To the east the modern Gothic church of St Johannes, with a lofty spire, stands conspicuously on the Brunkebergsås, one of the highest points in the city. To the north is the small Vanad's Park. To the west is the modern quarter of Vasastad, with its park. On the island of Kungsholm, south of Vasastad, are the Caroline medical institute, several hospitals, the principal of which is the Serafimer (1752), the royal mint and factories. Östermalm, lying east, that is, on the seaward side, of Norrmalm, is a good residential quarter, containing no public buildings of note, save the barracks of the Swedish Guards and the fine royal library, which is entitled to receive a copy of every work printed in Sweden. The library stands in the beautiful park of Humlegård (hop-garden), in which is also a statue of Linnaeus. South of Östermalm, and east of the Kungsträdgård and Staden, lies the peninsula of Blasieholm (formerly an island) and, connected by bridges, the islands of Skeppsholm and Kastellholm, the three forming the foreground in the beautiful seaward view from the Norrbro. On the first