Royal Palace in Stockholm

Stockholm Royal Palace ( Swede. Kungliga slottet ) - the official residence of the Swedish monarchs on the main promenade of the island of Stadholmen in the center of Stockholm .

In the Middle Ages on the site of the palace stood the Stockholm Castle , founded by Birger Jarl to protect the waterway from the Baltic to Mälaren . With the construction of this castle began the history of Stockholm.

Under Johan III, the gloomy castle was replaced by an elegant residence, designed in the spirit of the Renaissance . By the end of the XVII century. it was considered obsolete, and in 1690-97. according to the design of Tessin the Younger, a baroque palace was erected in its place. It should be noted that until the onset of New Time, the royal palace continued to serve not only as the seat of the royal family, but also the Swedish government.

In the gallery of Bernadotov

On May 7, 1697 , a barely completed palace burned to the ground, and Tessin set about building the now existing building with 600 rooms, with a 120-meter-long facade. Interestingly, the famous fire of 1697, which also nearly killed the royal family and did not burn the body of the deceased king Charles XI , who had died shortly before the fire, began in the chambers of the fireman in charge of the fire safety of the palace.

Due to economic difficulties, the construction of the new building of the palace was delayed until 1754 , and the northwest wing was completed only in 1760. Like the Royal Palace of Madrid , the residence of the Swedish kings, with its heavy symmetrical masses, owes its appearance to the remaining non - embodied Bernini project Palazzo Barberini .

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  The main facade of the Stockholm Palace.