to south. Nestling under the shadow
of the main isle were two smaller isles, Riddarholm on the west and
Helgeandsholm on the north, both severed from the city by a channel
about fifty feet in width. Through the centre of the main isle ran a
huge backbone of rock, beginning at the south and rising steadily till
within a few feet of the northern shore. The summit of this ridge was
crowned by the royal citadel, a massive edifice of stone, the northern
wall of which ran close along the shore, so that the soldier on patrol
could hear the ripple of the water on the rocks below. From either side
of the citadel the town walls ran south at a distance of perhaps a
hundred feet from the shore, meeting at a point about the same distance
from the southern channel. Within the triangle thus formed, not over
twenty-five acres all told, lived and moved five thousand human beings.
The streets, it need scarce be said, were narrow, dark, and damp. The
houses were lofty, generally with high pitch-roofs to prevent the snow
from gathering on them. The doors and windows were high, but narrow to
keep out the cold, and were built in the sides of the house, not in
front, owing to the darkness and narrowness of the streets. To economize
space, most of the houses were built in blocks of five or six, wholly
separated from their neighbors and forming a sort of castle by
themselves. The only church inside the walls was the so-called Great
Church on the summit of the hill. Adjoining this church on the south was
the old town-hall. As to public squares, there were but two,--the Grand
Square, on the summit of the hill immediately south of the town-hall;
and the so-called Iron Market, a smaller square just inside the southern
gate. These squares, the largest not more than eighty yards in length,
served at once as the market, the promenade, and the place of execution
for the town. The town-walls were fortified at several points by towers,
and were entered by gateways at the northwest corner and at the southern
point, as well as by several small gateways along the sides. The city
was connected with the mainland north and south by turreted bridges, the
north bridge passing across the island of Helgeandsholm. All around the
main island, some fifty feet from the shore, ran a long bridge on piles,
built as a safeguard against hostile ships. Protected thus by nature and
by art from foreign intrusion, the burghers of Stockholm learned to rely
on their own industry a