köpmanbrinken ("merchant's slope") is leading up to köpmantorget, its railing featuring the statue of saint george and the dragon, a copy from 1912 of the original located in the stockholm cathedral. where the statue is today there used to be an entire block triangular in shape. one of the three buildings it contained was used as a synagogue for a few years in the late 18th century, but as this collapsed on may 1, 1821, the entire block was demolished. buildings collapsed somewhat frequently in the area as the underlying soil, composed entirely of land filling, slid eastward and pulled the layers of gravel under the buildings in the process. also in 1821, a wall in 8 köpmanbrinken, reported as "looking rather trustworthy", was however transformed into a ruin in a snap, flying debris smashing windows on the opposite side of the street.