Lilla torg, Malmö

A little square with a long city memory

Lilla torg, literally “Little Square”, sits in the heart of Malmö’s Old Town, just a few steps from its larger neighbour Stortorget. Created around the 1590s as a marketplace, it was laid out on previously empty ground at the edge of the medieval street grid, chosen for practical trading rather than ceremony. For centuries this was where local small-scale commerce played out, forming one of the city’s everyday stages. The square’s modest footprint gives it an intimate feel. Underfoot, the surface is largely cobbled, with smoother stone used where people sit and stroll. Around you rise façades from nearly every century since the 1500s, their rooflines and materials telling a compressed version of Malmö’s architectural story.

From bustling market stalls to food-lovers’ favourite

In its early years, Lilla torg was a tightly organised market. Traders occupied wooden stalls: bakers clustered along the south side, butchers in the west, fish sellers in the east and grocers in the north. Over time, these temporary booths were replaced by permanent houses. In the early 1900s, a grand covered market hall was built over the entire square, turning it briefly into an indoor trading block before it was demolished in the 1960s and the open space was recreated. Later redesigns gave the square its present-day look, with natural stone paving throughout and space carefully set aside for outdoor seating. Today, almost every ground-floor frontage along the west, north and east sides, and part of the south, is occupied by restaurants, bars and cafés. Heated terraces and parasols extend the season, and the atmosphere shifts from relaxed coffee stops by day to buzzing dining and drinks in the evening.

Architecture in miniature around the cobbles

Lilla torg’s encircling buildings form an outdoor gallery of Malmö architecture. On the southern side, Hedmanska gården preserves a set of historic merchant’s buildings spanning several centuries, including richly detailed timber framing that reflects a building tradition dating back to the 1500s. Nearby half-timbered houses, colourful plastered façades and later brick structures sit side by side, showing how the square evolved rather than being planned all at once. Dominating the north side, a five-storey building once known as Hotel Anglais displays early 20th-century national romantic style, with robust forms and decorative details. Elsewhere you can spot former merchant houses, warehouses and town palaces that have been adapted to hold offices, shops, eateries and cultural venues, all oriented toward the life of the square.

Stories in stone, water and courtyard corners

At the centre of the cobbles stands a fountain dating from the 1970s, replacing an earlier well. Around its rim, sculpted reliefs depict scenes from the old market days, when produce and provisions passed hand to hand in the open air. These images offer a quiet reminder that the social buzz that fills the square today has deep roots in trade and exchange. Slip through one of the archways along the edges and you may find yourself in a sheltered courtyard, paved in stone and ringed by old warehouses with hoists and loft doors. These spaces once housed goods bound for ships and shops; now they often host design centres, galleries and cafés, extending the square’s cultural life beyond its visible edges.

Modern meeting place in the heart of Malmö

Today Lilla torg serves multiple roles at once: workplace, neighbourhood, dining area and open-air living room. Offices, a hotel, speciality shops, a preschool and private homes all look onto the same compact plaza. In fine weather, tables spill across much of the square, yet there is usually a slice of cobbled ground free to wander, pause by the fountain or study the varied façades. As daylight softens, the mood becomes warmer and more animated, with conversations rising under strings of lights and the smell of food drifting from kitchens all around. Yet even at its busiest, the square’s scale keeps it approachable. You can cross it in a few dozen steps, but its layered history, architectural variety and lively street life reward lingering far longer than that.