From 2023, the first Italian free tour of the historic center of Stockholm

Since June 2023, the first free offer Italian language tour of the city of Stockholm, the Venice of Northern Europe and the capital of Scandinavia.

THE WALK INCLUDES:

- Some brief references to the Viking past of Northern Europe and runes;

- Many historical anecdotes and some contextualizations related to the medieval history of the city of Stockholm, particularly in the 1500-1600s (Stockholm Bloodbath, Protestant Reformation by Olaus Petri and Gustav Vasa and the "betrayal" of Protestantism by Queen Christina);
- Many references to the contemporary and more recent history of Stockholm and Sweden (external visit to the Nobel Museum and life of Alfred Nobel);
- External visit to the Riddarholmskyrkan (oldest church in Stockholm);
- External visit to the Cathedral (Storkyrkan);
- Answers to questions and curiosities about Sweden, life in Sweden, and Swedes;
- Practical advice on where to drink and eat and/or where to buy souvenirs;
- Practical advice on attractions and museums.

All in the company of a very friendly Italian guide with a degree in history, philosophy, and pedagogy, a true nerd to whom you can ask anything from Olof Palme and Swedish social democracy to medieval kings and Swedish fika.

ITINERARY LIST (2.5 km, about 2 hours and 20 minutes)

• Gamla stan (Metro Station - START OF THE TOUR);
• Riddarholmskyrkan; 
• Munkbro Brewery and the fire of 1625;
• Oldest candy store in Stockholm; 
• Mårten Trotzigs gränd: narrowest alley in Stockholm;
• Tyska kyrka (German Church);
• External visit to the ONLY VIKING RUNE in Gamla stan (don't know what a rune is? You'll find out during the tour).
• Stortorget and Nobel Prize Museum (external visit with explanation of the Bloodbath of 1520, the Protestant Reformation, the history of Queen Christina, and other cornerstones of Swedish history);
• Storkyrka (Great Church, external visit and explanation of the S.Göran sculpture) 
• Royal Castle (from the outside); 
• Parliament House-Stadshuset (external);  

ABOUT THE GUIDE

Hello, I'm Matteo and I offer the perspective of an "Swedified" Italian. I have lived in Sweden since 2016 and over these years I have studied various humanities at the best Swedish universities. My goal is to put at your service, through my rhetorical skills, my passion for medieval and contemporary history as well as the knowledge accumulated over years of real life, work in schools and universities, and study in Sweden. Have you heard of Stockholm Syndrome? Have you ever wondered who Alfred Nobel was and why the place where the Nobel Prize winners are announced is located in the Swedish capital? Do you want to know more about the sophistication of Christina of Sweden (whose tutor, the French philosopher Descartes, died of fever because he was forced to wake up at 4 in the morning to give philosophy lessons to the ambitious ruler)? Stockholm is today a hyper-modern metropolis, but has it always been so? How did Stockholmers live in the 1600s? Is there a "singer-songwriter" tradition in Sweden? Why is it sometimes said or thought that Swedes have no history? If these and other questions intrigue you, then this is the tour for you!

Ps. The tour content is mostly suitable for those with an interest primarily in historical, but also political and social nature.