It was originally created as the private residence of Gustaf Bonde (1620–1667) in the 1660s to the design by Jean de la Vallée and Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, however overtaken by the city in the early 18th century to serve as a city hall until the early 20th century and since WW2 accommodating the Supreme Court.
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The present square, largely occupied by the through traffic to and from Munkbroleden and Vasabron, and surrounded by old palaces occupied by modestly extrovert state-level offices, is the faint remains of what used to be the centre of Swedish politics; the palace of the Swedish nobility standing face to face with the emergent Liberal press, the entire scene using the idyllic eastern canal as a backdrop.