Given the age of the city, and its long role as a political capital, it isn't surprising that some of the local color is red. In 1792 King Gustav III was assassinated at the Royal Opera House during a masked ball; ironically, he founded the Operan (Opera House) twenty years earlier. The present structure, built on the same site in 1898, is an excellent example of neo-Baroque style: somber, and elegant, too.

Verdi's opera, The Masked Ball, was based on the assassination of Gustav III.

A few blocks away, at the entrance to an underground subway station, is this plaque, marking the spot where Olof Palme, Sweden's Prime Minister, was assassinated on Feb. 28, 1986. The crime has never been solved, so the motive is unknown, too.

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Photo (c) 1997 Lawrence I. Charters