As the city gates were patently the weakest point in all medieval fortifications, the fewer the better was the obvious rule. In medieval Stockholm, presumably three or four narrow gates opened the wall: Through the eastern wall a single gate allowed Köpmangatan to pass down to the shore, while the others, all leading to Västerlånggatan, were located where today are Storkyrkobrinken ("Slope of the Great Church"), Kåkbrinken ("Slope of the House"), and Tyska Brinken ("German Slope"). Surrounding the Royal Palace was an open area called "Sanden" ("The Sand"), intentionally kept free for defensive reasons and including the present location of Slottsbacken ("Palace Slope"), south of the palace, and Högvaktsterrassen ("Terrace of the Main Guard"), west of it. Within the city, the artery roads were stipulated to be eight ell wide ("aln", e.g. barely five meters) to allow horse-drawn vehicles to pass, while no rules restricted the width of cross-streets. As the city started to get overcrowded in the 14th century, new buildings were built on the shores outside the city wall, and gradually land fillings between the bridges along the shores gave room for sheds and storehouses forming the elongated blocks separated by narrow alleys which are today characteristic for the old town. Within the old city center, larger blocks were partitioned into smaller ones, which resulted in several narrow streets such as Trädgårdsgatan ("Garden Street") and Kindstugatan ("Box on the Ear Street", historical, corrupted).