Monks of the Old Town

Long before hipster coffee and tourist groups lined the alleyways of Stockholm's Old Town, monks strolled here in black or gray robes, with prayers on their lips and hunger in their stomachs. They were Dominican and Franciscan, two mendicant orders with different visions for the world but a shared goal: to save medieval Stockholm.

On this walk, you step right into forgotten Stockholm, where cloisters once stood on the grounds of today's Venus, Juno, and Riddarholmen quarters. Here, churches were built, political meetings held, and, as per a judgment from 1479, wine was sold to some rather overzealous guests.

You will visit preserved vaults, historic streets, and places where both kings were crowned and monks were buried. All in the shadow of the city's ancient walls and amid the scent of burnt brick from the 1407 fire that consumed an entire monastery.

This is the tale of the black and gray brothers – and of the world they built, prayed in, drank wine under... and ultimately lost.