Solgränd

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Solgränd in March 2007.

The sun rarely reaches Solgränd. (Photo taken a bright and sunny spring day.)

Solgränd (Swedish: "Sun Alley") is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. It connects the Stortorget square to the street Prästgatan. It is a parallel street to Storkyrkobrinken, Ankargränd, Spektens gränd, and Kåkbrinken.

Solen ("The Sun") was the name of several taverns in Gamla stan, and in a list dated 1671 three taverns and inns are said to bear the name, one of which is called Solen vid Prästgatan ("The Sun at Prästgatan"). A tavern probably located in the corner of Prästgatan gave the alley its name. The popular troubadour Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795) mentions the alley in his lyrics. The tavern mentioned in his epistle n:o 79 however, dedicated to a mor Maja Myra i Solgränden vid Stortorget, anno 1785 ("mother Maja Myra in the Solgränd by Stortorget, in the year 1785"), is referring to a tavern next door to Solen, in epistle n.o 56 called Förgyllda Bägaren ("The Gilted Cup").^[1]^[2]

[edit] References

^ (1992) "Innerstaden: Gamla stan", Stockholms gatunamn, 2nd ed., Stockholm: Kommittén för Stockholmsforskning, 71. ISBN 91-7031-042-4.
^ Béatrice Glase, Gösta Glase (1988). "Inre Stadsholmen", Gamla stan med Slottet och Riddarholmen, 3rd ed. (in Swedish), Stockholm: Bokförlaget Trevi, 56. ISBN 91 7160 823 0.