"Järntorget (Swedish: The Iron Square) is a small public square in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Located in the southernmost corner of the old town, the square connects the thoroughfares Västerlånggatan and Österlånggatan, while the two alleys, Södra Bankogränd and Norra Bankogränd, stretches east to connect the square to Skeppsbron, and two other alleys, Järntorgsgatan and Triewaldsgränd, leads south to Slussplan and Kornhamnstorg respectively.
The second oldest square in Stockholm, slightly younger than Stortorget, Järntorget dates back to around 1300 and remained the city's most important trade centre for centuries — constantly busy and crowded, scents and noise intermixing while goods were transported from shore to shore across the square and up and down the attics of the surrounding buildings.
A walk around the square
The numbers of the buildings surrounding the square are continuous with those on Västerlånggatan, and are therefore listed here counter clockwise from the southern end of Västerlånggatan:
Through the four-storey building on Number 78 (Deucalion 2) a medieval alley once passed from Västerlånggatan to Kornhamnstorg and the building facing the square was thus a very narrow block. While the present shape of the building dates back to 1791, the interior was much altered during the second half of the 19th century and the modern shop windows were added in the 20th century. Remains of the buildings located here in the 17th century are, however, still part of the modern structure, together with fractions of the interior.
The Art Nouveau façade of Number 80 (Medusa 4), including the large windows and cast iron colonnettes, got much its present appearance in 1907 following a reconstruction of the shop (at the time an ironmongery), save for a minor enlargement of the shop windows in 1941, and the entrance of the Coop store added in 1981. On the address was the photographic studio of David Jacoby, the numerous portraits from which still attracts the interest of many Swedish genealogists.
On Number 84 (Pluto) is Södra Bankohuset, the oldest national bank building in the world. The western façade facing the square, built in 1675–1685 to the design of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, is inspired by Italian Renaissance, the strict style meant to emphasise the motto of the bank: Hinc Robur et Securitas, "Hence Stability and Reliability". The portal is a direct quotation of Vignola's portal at Villa Farnese in Caprarola. The original design was repeated around the building by later architects.
In front of the bank building is one of the famous sights at Järntorget, the statue of Evert Taube (1890–1976); the popular troubadour and composer in beret and sun-glasses, with music sheets in his hands. The sculpture was inaugurated in 1985 and the artist Karl-Göte Bejemark (1922–2000), who also made other popular sculptures depicting famous Swedes such as Greta Garbo and Nils Ferlin, chose natural colours for the sculpture and placed it directly on the pavement to give the impression the troubadour is on his way to his favourite hangout, Den Gyldene Freden just a block away.
Atop the old-fashion, plain white façade of Number 85 (Trivia 3) is a crane still reminding of the trade once dominating the square. Passing through Number 83 (Trivia 2) was during the 15th and 16th centuries a passage by the end of the later century called Spilaregången, after the workers called Spilare who used to pack iron, fish, and other goods in casks there.
The well centred on the square is made of cast iron, modelled to a British prototype, and was a donation from the National Bank in 1829."
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