Stockholm [antikvár]

StockholmStockholm is a city sprung from rock and water. During the many centuries when virtually ail traffic of importance in these parts was sea-borne, it lay in the shelter of an archipelago which invaders found hard to penetrate. Behind Stockholm lay the Malaren a vast inland lake system, surrounded by fertile countryside whose waterways gave easy access to such important towns and trading centres as Sigtuna, Uppsala, Strangnâs and Vasterâs.And even if the seven centuries since Stockholm was founded seem to have witnessed its total transformation, much of its original character still remains; seems indeed almost eternal.The best approach to Sweden's capital, if you want to grasp something of its original raison d'etre and earliest history, is still by sea. The creeks and sounds may seem narrow; but they open wide enough to admit even very large ships. And then, suddenly, there lies the city, its towers, its church spires, the great façade of the old merchants' houses like a wall facing the water along Skeppsbron quay. If you want to pass on into the Mâlaren lakes, then you'll have to go through Slussen the sluices at the southern end of the Old Town. Or else mount the rapids beneath the Royal Palace, at its northern end.Even if the Old Town (once known as simply The Town) used to be a good deal smaller than it is today and the narrows at its either end considerably wider, still Stockholm effectively barred ail access to Lake Mâlaren. And this was why its fortress, which soon grew out into a whole little town, was founded in the mid-13th century Sas an outwork to défend other more important ones. Only after this lock had been prised open could they be approached.But Stockholm came into existence in an age when petty chieftains were