Arguably the most central church in the Swedish capital, surrounded by the popular park Kungsträdgården, the Royal Opera, the square Gustav Adolfs torg; and near Sergels torg, the Royal Palace, and governmental office Rosenbad, the parish of the church was limited to 150 souls in the late 1980s, and was thus merged into the parish of the Stockholm Cathedral in 1989.

It is first mentioned in 1311, and archaeological excavations in 1948 and one more recently documented its location just south of the present church and reconstructions showed its extent was limited to 8×13 meters.

[1] However, in 1580 King John III ordered a church to be rebuilt on the same location, as part of his attempt to incorporate the urban conglomeration on the northern ridges into the city.

As completed by the time for the death of John III, the design of Willem Boy (c. 1520–1592) included a central nave flanked by two tall aisles resting on sandstone columns.

[1] Charles IX's intentions to make the northern suburbs (today's Norrmalm) an independent city motivated him to order the church to be lengthened by two bays in 1630.

The first Governor of Stockholm Klas Flemming employed master mason Hans Ferster and stone-cutter Heinrich Blume in 1633, which resulted in the star-ribbed vaults completed in 1642.