Savvy Sightseer - tips and insights for seasoned travelers!
Seven stories high (unless you count half-floors), the Swedish Royal Palace is one of the largest European royal residences.
Buried beneath the current Royal Palace are the remains of the Tre Kronor palace, which burned in 1697.
On Lovön island in Lake Mälaren, “the Queen’s Home” is a sprawling estate that serves as the residence of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.
Royal Residences
For centuries the Royal Palace in the heart of Stockholm’s Old Town, Gamla Stan, was both the residence and administrative offices for Sweden’s monarchies. That changed in 1981 when current royals decided to separate work and home, opting instead to make the suburban Drottningholm Palace their primary residence. The two buildings are polar opposites in so many ways.
Royal Palace
(Sveriges Kungahus) in Gamla Stan
Much larger than the island estate, this palace towers seven stories high and encompasses over 600 rooms, making it one of the largest palaces in Northern Europe. It was designed in the Italian Baroque style and fashioned after a Roman palace, with four main wings surrounding an inner courtyard. Two curved wings enclose an outer courtyard at the palace’s west entrance, and are a fitting backdrop for the daily Changing of the Guard, filled with pomp and circumstance. On the eastern side, two wings bookend a miniature palace garden. The palace is still considered the Official Royal Residence; the king and queen work here as well as host elaborate receptions and state events. Most of the palace has been divided into a variety of museums exploring royals’ daily lives, fashions, armor, art and crown jewels.
Click the video above to enjoy the Royal Naval Cadet Band during the daily Changing of the Guard.
Royal Apartments
While the exterior of the Royal Palace is a bit austere, the inside is decidely different. The Chapel is a creamy confection with stunning artwork on its ceiling. The monarch's silver throne is positioned directly across from the chapel with a straight line view to the altar. The White Sea Room today provides a dignified backdrop for formal entertaining before and after a state dinner. Seating is arranged in conversational clusters throughout the room with its magnificent parquet floor of oak, birch, mahogany, lemon wood and ebony. In the Apartments of the Orders of Chivalry, uniforms and honors are on full display. Well-preserved tapestries line many of the palace’s walls, signs of a time when these heavy woven pieces kept out drafts while adding decoration – and reminding visitors of the Crown’s riches, since only the wealthy could afford them. And if imitation is the highest form of flattery then Paris's Versailles should be pleased by the Royal Palace's version of the French estate's Hall of Mirrors.
The Royal Palace in Gamla Stan is still considered the monarchy's Official Royal Residence, although they no longer live there. Administrative work and state events are conducted here. The main draw for tourists is its various museums and Royal Chapel.
The Royal Chapel is a composite of white and gold used by the royal family since 1754. It is the third chapel on the sight; its predecessor burned with the rest of the Tre Kronor in 1697.
Karl XI’s Gallery is converted to a dining room on December 11 annually as the king hosts a banquet for that year's Nobel Laureates.
The Royal Palace in Gamla Stan is still considered the monarchy's Official Royal Residence, although they no longer live there. Administrative work and state events are conducted here. The main draw for tourists is its various museums and Royal Chapel.
Click the Royal Palace courtyard above to tour the Royal Apartments.
With gold-plate and precious velvet textiles, the Royal Carriage collection shows off some of the splendor of ancient times.
King Adolf Frederick’s wife Louisa Ulrika's Coronation Gown in 1751 demonstrates a popular style dress of the time. Panniers were used to stretch out a gown over hips - making the waist seem narrower.
Sleighing out to a picnic didn't require leaving fancy tableware home.
With gold-plate and precious velvet textiles, the Royal Carriage collection shows off some of the splendor of ancient times.
Royal Armoury
Sweden’s oldest museum, The Royal Armoury, grew out of King Gustav II Adolph’s desire in 1628 to pay tribute to … himself. He wanted to preserve the bloody clothes from one of his most successful battles with Poland "as a perpetual memorial" that could be seen and contemplated in awe. Today the Armoury in the Royal Palace’s cellars is a magnificent showcase of Swedish history told through centuries of clothes, jewelry, carriages, armor and oddities gathered together from their original homes in different areas of the city. The oldest item displayed is Gustav Vasa’s helmet from 1548.
Click the Royal carriage above to travel to Sweden's Royal Armoury.
Tre Kronor Fortress
A visit to the excavated castle below the palace traces the architectural history of royal residences on this site since the Vikings first built a stronghold in the 900s. In the 13th century, Stockholm’s founder Birger Jarl built a medieval fortress on the same site, which morphed into a Renaissance palace, called Tre Kronor (Three Crowns), over the following century. A fire devastated it in 1697. The French- and Italian-inspired palace seen today was built over the ruins of the Tre Kronor in 1754, but parts of the original fortress are still accessible. Displays there depict its development from defense fort to the Renaissance palace of today.
Stockholm was founded in 1252; this model shows what the original Tre Kronor (Three Crown) castle looked like in the early 1300s: a defensive stronghold with a watchtower.
Parts of the original Three Crowns fortress are preserved under the current day Royal Palace.
The three-crown national emblem of Sweden that topped the castle’s spire – the Tre Kronor - has been used since at least 1336. Their symbolism is uncertain: the Three Wise Men (or Holy Kings) or the three kings of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, who met in 1101 to set the countries' borders.
Stockholm was founded in 1252; this model shows what the original Tre Kronor (Three Crown) castle looked like in the early 1300s: a defensive stronghold with a watchtower.
Click an artist's model of the Tre Kronor above to go into the excavated formal royal castle.
Drottningholm
Walking around the Royal Domain of Drottningholm, you might be reminded of France’s glittering golden Palace of Versailles, with its beautiful formal gardens - and you would be doing exactly what its owners, architects and landscapers wanted you to. In its announcement to include the entire palace and grounds in its List of World Heritage Sites in 1991, UNESCO stated: “The ensemble of Drottningholm - castle, theatre, Chinese Pavilion and gardens - is … the finest example of an 18th-century north European royal residence inspired by the Palace of Versailles.” (To compare the two, visit my Versailles page in my Paris & NW France section.)
Drottningholm, literally “the Queen’s Home,” today serves as the residence of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. The estate, on Lovön island in Lake Mälaren, is a suburb of Sweden’s capital city Stockholm and has been a royal domain since the 16th century. The current lavish palace replaced a more modest one that mysteriously burned in 1662. Then-Queen Regent Hedvig Eleonora believed, as head of the Government of Sweden, she needed a “suitably impressive” residence at a convenient distance from the capital. At about seven miles from Stockholm, Drottningholm fit the bill nicely and over the next 40 years grew into the striking palace we see today.
Royal Family members retain privacy in the palace’s southern wing, but the rest of Drottningholm is open to visitors – and not just the human kind! Queen Silvia recently noted, “There are small friends ... ghosts. They’re all very friendly, but you sometimes feel that you’re not completely alone.”
In 1753, King Adolf Fredrik presented his wife, Queen Lovisa Ulrika, with a truly unique birthday surprise of a Chinese Pavilion on Drottningholm estate.
The original pavilion was replaced a decade later by the current Chinese-inspired complex of buildings.
Guards were housed in this distinctly unusual Turkish-style building that is cleverly designed to look like a tent, but isn’t!
In 1753, King Adolf Fredrik presented his wife, Queen Lovisa Ulrika, with a truly unique birthday surprise of a Chinese Pavilion on Drottningholm estate.
Click Drottningham Palace’s Chinese Pavillion above to wander around the complex.
The suburban royal home of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia sits on the edge of Lake Mälaren.
Drottningholm’s sumptuous entrance is the most beautiful part of the palace.
Drottningholm’s Theater is the oldest in the world still preserved in its original condition from 1766.
The suburban royal home of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia sits on the edge of Lake Mälaren.
Click Drottningham Palace above to visit the Monarchy’s suburban residence.
Modeled along the lines of the Palace of Versailles, one of Drottningholm's key features is its formal French garden.
A sole guard walks his post overseeing the yard.
A swan and her babies meander around the pond and under little bridges.
Modeled along the lines of the Palace of Versailles, one of Drottningholm's key features is its formal French garden.
Click Drottningham Palace’s formal garden above view three very different types of gardens.
Continue your trip through Stockholm with a visit to the Stockholm Home Page, Capital City or Magnificent Museums pages.
For a taste of Stockholm, try the delicious Cardamom Rice Pudding recipe on the Recipes Tab (under More).
