Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Sigtuna

Sigtuna is Sweden’s oldest medieval city. The main street with many coloured wooden houses brings one to the ‘Stora Torget’ with the (former) city hall. Without any doubt this ‘Rådhus’ is one of the nicest buildings of the town. It is considered being the smallest city hall in Europe with just two rooms. One of them was used by the city council, the other was the ‘police station’ and had two cells for prisoners. In 1737 the old town hall was in a state of disrepair and the mayor decided to build a new one. The inhabitants of Sigtuna brought together the funds for the construction and in the year of 1744 the new town hall was inaugurated. Today, the ‘Rådhus’ is part of the Sigtuna Museum.

The construction of the ‘Mariakyrkan’ (St. Mary’s Church) started in the year of 1230 and was inaugurated in 1247. It is the oldest stone building in the area around Lake Mälaren. The church was built even before Stockholm was founded. The beautiful brick exterior shows a style between Romanesque and Gothic. The church originally belonged to a Dominican monastery, but was demolished after the Reformation in 1530 and the Mariakyrkan became the local parish church. The church is the only medieval church in Sigtuna to have survived the Reformation. The interior houses a number of fine medieval artifacts and wall paintings. The altarpiece has sculpted figures of the 14th century (PiP 1) and beneath the beautiful stained-glass window is a magnificent altarpiece, which probably was made in Sigtuna (PiP 2).