Heliga Trefaldighetskyrkan
The most obvious starting point for a visit to town is the 1618 Heliga Trefaldighetskyrkan, right opposite the train station. The church symbolizes all that was glorious about Christian IV’s Renaissance ideas: the grandiose exterior has seven magnificent spiralled gables, and the building’s high windows allow light to flood the white interior. Inside, the most striking features are the elaborately carved pew ends: each is over 2m tall, and no two are the same. The gilded Baroque magnificence of the 1630 organ facade is also worth a look.
Stora torg
Diagonally across from the Heliga Trefaldighetskyrkan, the main square, Stora torg, contains the late nineteenth-century Rådhus, built in imitation of Christian’s Renaissance design. Inside the entrance, a bronze copy of the king’s 1643 bust is something of a revelation: Christian sports a goatee beard, one earring and a single dreadlock, and exposes a nipple decorated with a flower motif, itself a source of interest for a baby elephant round the royal neck. Opposite the town hall, and in marked contrast to it, the 1920s post office and the old Riksbank have an identical 1920s brick design; while the adjacent 1640s Mayor’s House is different again, with a Neoclassical yellow-stuccoed facade. The square also boasts Palle Pernevi’s splintered Icarus fountain, which depicts the unfortunate Greek soul falling from heaven into what looks like a scaffolded building site. The town’s streets are peppered with modern sculptures; one of the best is Axel Olsson’s bronze Romeo & Julia at Östra Storgatan 3, close to Stora torg, depicting an accordion player serenading a woman emerging from an open window.
Tivoliparken
Wander down any of the roads heading south and you’ll reach Tivoliparken, known locally as the “English Park”, with avenues of horse-chestnut and copper beech trees. In its centre is a fine Art Nouveau theatre, a stylish white building whose designer, Axel Anderberg, also designed the Stockholm Opera.