Storkyrkobrinken

Storkyrkobrinken (Swedish: [²stuːrɕʏrkɔˌbrɪŋkɛn], "Big Church Slope") is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central , Sweden.

Leading from Högvaktsterrassen ("Main Guard Terrace") near the down to Myntgatan ("Coin Street") and Riddarhustorget ("Knight's House Square") it forms a parallel street to Salviigränd and Stora Gråmunkegränd and is crossed by , Prästgatan, and Västerlånggatan.

The street's present name stems from the vicinity to the cathedral Storkyrkan.

Since the Middle Ages, the street and various sections of it appears under different names referring to various activities and prominent buildings.

In medieval times, Storkyrkobrinken was the main slope leading up to the village church on the top of Stadsholmen. The crossing street Västerlånggatan was the street passing outside the city wall on the city's western side, and there was a city gate which permitted Storkyrkobrinken to enter the city. In 1422 Storkyrkobrinken is referred to as sancte nicolauese port ("Gate of Saint Nicholas") while the section outside the city wall (west of Västerlånggatan) appears as S:t Laurentii gränd ("Alley of Saint Lawrence") in 1436 and a name it retained throughout the second half of that century. St Nicholas of Myra (-350), patron saint of merchants and seamen, had a statue in the street to which people would offer before shipping expeditions, and a chaplain in the 1670s explains both the church, the street, and city were named after the saint until the 1570s, notwithstanding the statue was destroyed earlier that century.

...
Wikipedia