Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/582

 558 STOCKHOLM remoter parts. The two provinces mentioned were densely peopled, and the cultivated regions extended to the mouth of the lake, as is shown by groups of tumuli still to be seen in the immediate neigh- bourhood of the present city. Still Stockholm does not rank among the oldest cities of Sweden; the exceedingly eligible site had long been neglected owing to its exposure to the incursions of pirates. 1 Stockholm was first founded by Birger Jarl, it is said, in the middle of the 13th century, at a time when pirate Environs of Stockholm. fleets were less common than they had been, and the Government was anxious to establish commercial relations with the towns which were now beginning to flourish on the southern coast of the Baltic. The city was originally founded as a fortress on an island at the mouth of Lake Millar ; this island, which is not large, consists of a hill of gravel resting upon rocky ground, having its highest side towards the north, and sloping in the other directions. The castle was erected on the north-eastern corner, and the city was surrounded with walls having fortified towers on the north and south. It came to be called Stockholm (" the isle of the log," Lat. Ifolmia, Germ. Holm) ; the true explanation of the name is not known. Soon the space ^s&^KiSrRaguofa -hd^, rt&&$^2S//^^^LJ t LJJZs&-* 3. Kanggtradg&ra 4. Carl XII. Torg. 1. Church of St John. 2. Uumlegard. which had been enclosed was found to be insufficient, and houses were built outside the walls, which thus lost their defensive character. The castle, two towers belonging to the older works, and some newer walls nearer the water became the sole fortifications. The citizens began also to build on the neighbouring shores, though there, in the event of a siege, all houses had to be destroyed, so as not to give shelter to the enemy. A tendency to increased 1 Before the rise of Stockholm Bjorkb, Sigtuna, and Upsala were places of great importance. Bjorkb (" the isle of birches "), by foreign authors called Birca, was a kind of capital where the king lived occa- sionally at least ; history speaks of its relations with Dorestad in the Netherlands, and the extensive refuse heaps of the old city, as well as the numerous sepulchral monuments, show that the population must have been large. But, though situated at a central point on the Malar Lake, it was destroyed, apparently before the beginning of the llth century, we do not exactly know when nor by whom ; and, once de- stroyed, it never recovered. Sigtuna, lying on the shore of a far-reaching northern arm of Lake Malar, also a royal residence and the seat of the first mint in Sweden, where English workmen were employed by King Olaf at the beginning of the llth century, was, though much more sheltered than Bjbrko, destroyed in the course of the 12th century. 9. Birger Jarls Torg. development has steadily showed itself throughout the Middle Ages and in modern times. On an islet in the stream, between the original Stockholm and the northern shore, was founded, in the 14th century, a hospital of the Holy Ghost, and a new tower was erected to defend the approach to the city. On another islet closely adjoining the original Stockholm on the west, a Franciscan monas- tery was founded towards the end of the 13th century. The present city has an area of 12 '6 square miles ('44 being water) ; its extreme length from north to south is about 3 '8 miles and its circumference 14|. The different parts of the actual city are the following. (1) Staden is the old "city"; its ancient origin is apparent in the narrow and winding streets. The individual houses are not very old, owing to the ravages of frequent fires ; still, some are to be seen with very narrow frontage and gables turned towards the street, as in North Germany. The old market, still called Stortorget ("the great market"), is now one of the smallest in Stockholm. The royal palace, dating from the Middle Ages, but enlarged and partly rebuilt at a later