About Stockholm

Positioned where the waters of Lake Malaren rush into the Baltic, Stockholm is one of Europe's most beautiful capitals. The city is built on 14 small islands joined by bridges and has a plethora of parks, squares, and boulevards, contrasted with glass-and-steel skyscrapers.

Sweden's most important chieftain in the mid-13th century, Birger Jarl, ordered the construction of a fort on one of the strategically placed islets where the fresh water entered the sea, and traffic on the waterways was controlled using timber stocks arranged as a fence, or boom. The name Stockholm, meaning 'tree-trunk islet' may well have originated as a result of this.

The oldest record of the city consists of two letters dating from 1252. Within a hundred years, Stockholm was the largest city in Sweden. By the 15th century Stockholm had become a significant commercial centre and became the capital of Sweden in 1419.

I was in Stockholm on 12th to 14th August, 2005 and the memories from this trip are captured in this page.