Gråbrødretorv 4.1

Gråbrødretorv is a public square in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark, just off the pedestrian street Strøget.HistoryGråbrødretorv takes its name from a Franciscan friary, which was established at the site in 1238. The friary consisted at its height of a church, a refectory, a great hall which was used on many occasions for important state meetings and meetings of the provincial which governed Franciscan monasteries in Denmark. The friary was dissolved in 1530 but the church tower was a visible part of the city skyline as late as 1596. The huge cellars of the friary became the town jail and eventually the church itself was converted to a prison. In 1621 Christian IV added an orphanage and recommissioned the church as a house of worship, though it was called the "Prison Church".In the middle of the 17th century, Corfitz Ulfeldt built a mansion at the site and the square became known as Ulfeldts Plads (English: Ulfeldt's Square). The mansion was demolished after his impeachment in 1663 and the subsequent confiscation of his property. Instead a pillar of shame was erected in the square to his disgrace, intended for people to spit on when passing it by.At the Copenhagen Fire of 1728 practically all buildings around the square were destroyed. The area was rebuilt, but after the British bombardment of the city during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807 it saw new devastation but was once again rebuilt.