In medieval times, the site of Greifswald was an unsettled woodland which marked the border between the Danish Principality of Rügen and the Pomeranian County of Gützkow, which at that time was also under Danish control. In 1199, the Rugian Prince Jaromar I allowed Danish Cistercian monks to build Hilda Abbey, now Eldena Abbey, at the mouth of the River Ryck. Among the lands granted the monks was a natural salt evaporation pond a short way up the river, a site also crossed by an important south–north "via regia" trade route. This site was named "Gryp(he)swold(e)", which is the Low German precursor of the city's modern name – which means "Griffin's Forest." Legend says the monks were shown the best site for settlement by a mighty griffin living in a tree that supposedly grew on what became Greifswald's oldest street, the "Schuhagen". The town's construction followed a scheme of rectangular streets, with church and market sites reserved in central positions. It was settled primarily by Germans in the course of the Ostsiedlung, but settlers from other nations and Wends from nearby were attracted, too.