| Drottningholm Palace | |
 Front view of the castle |
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| Building information | |
|---|---|
| Town | Drottningholm |
| Country | Sweden |
| Construction start date | 16th century |
| Royal Domain of Drottningholm* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| State Party |  Sweden |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iv |
| Reference | 559 |
| Region† | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1991 (15th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
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The Drottningholm Palace is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex As of 2008 there are a total of 878 World Heritage Sites located in 145 "State Parties" "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Europe. Asia Minor, Cyprus, all of the Aegean Islands, the Canaries A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex The Swedish Royal Family consists of a number of persons in the Swedish Royal House of Bernadotte, immediately related to the King of Sweden, It is located in Drottningholm. Drottningholm, or literally "Queen's Islet" is a village on the island Lovön in lake Mälaren on the outskirts of Stockholm ( Ekerö Municipality It is built on the island Lovön (in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County), and is one of Sweden's Royal Palaces. Lovön is an island located in the Swedish lake Mälaren in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County. Ekerö Municipality ( Ekerö kommun) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Stockholm County ( Stockholms län) is a county or Län on the Baltic sea coast of Sweden. Royal palaces ( Crown palaces in Sweden: The Royal Palace in Stockholm Drottningholm Palace Chinese Pavilion It was originally built in the late 16th century. Apart from being the private residency of the Swedish royal family, the castle is a popular tourist attraction.
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History
The name Drottningholm (literally meaning "Queen's islet") came from the original renaissance building designed by Willem Boy, a stone palace built by John III of Sweden in 1580 for his wife Queen Katarina Jagellonica. Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe in which there was a Willem Boy (Guillaume Boyen (died 1592 was a Flemish painter, Sculptor, and Architect active in Sweden from around 1558 until his John III (Johan III Juhana III (20 December 1537 – 17 November 1592 was King of Sweden from 1568 until his death Catherine Jagiellon (Katarzyna Jagiellonka Katariina Jagellonica Katarina This palace was preceded by a royal mansion called Torvesund. [1] Hedwig Eleonora bought the castle in 1661, a year after her role as Queen of Sweden ended, but it burnt to the ground on 30th December that same year. Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp (23 October 1636 &ndash 24 November 1715 was the queen consort of King Charles X of Sweden and Queen mother of Hedwig hired the famous Swedish architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder to design and rebuild the castle. Nicodemus Tessin the Elder (Nicodemus Tessin den äldre (born 1615 in Stralsund; died 1681 in Stockholm) was an important Swedish Architect. In 1662 work began on the reconstruction of the building. With the castle almost complete, Nicodemus died in 1681. His son Nicodemus Tessin the Younger continued his work and completed the elaborate interior designs. Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger ( May 23 1654 - April 10 1728) was a Swedish Baroque Architect
During the period of the reconstruction, Hedwig was head of the protectorate for the still underage King, Charles XI of Sweden. Charles XI (Karl XI 24 November 1655old style &ndash 5 April 1697old style was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death in an unruly period in Sweden had grown to be a powerful country after the Peace of Westphalia. The term Peace of Westphalia refers to the two peace treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, signed on May 15 and October 24 of The position of the queen, essentially the ruler of Sweden, demanded an impressive residence located conveniently close to Stockholm. ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the
The palace was given as a gift to the then Princess, later Queen, of Sweden, Louisa Ulrika of Prussia in 1744 when she married Adolf Frederick of Sweden, who became King of Sweden in 1751. Louisa Ulrika of Prussia ( Swedish: Lovisa Ulrika; German: Luise Ulrike) (1720&mdash1782 was a Swedish Queen Queen consort of Sweden Adolf Frederick (Adolf Fredrik ( 14 May 1710 – 12 February 1771) was King of Sweden from 1751 until his death During Louisa's ownership of Drottningholm the interior of the palace was transformed in a more sophisticated French rococo style. Rococo is a style of 18th century French art and Interior design. Louisa was also responsible for having the Drottningholm Palace Theatre rebuilt in a grand style after the more modest original building burnt down in 1762. The Drottningholm Palace Theatre (Drottningholms slottsteater is an Opera house located at Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden, which In 1777, Louisa sold Drottningholm to the Swedish state. While it was owned by the Swedish state, Gustav III of Sweden, son of Louisa, lived in the palace. Gustav III ( – 29 March 1792) was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death
For much of the 19th century, the palace was ignored and started to decay. This saw some change during the reign of Oscar I of Sweden. Oscar I, born Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte ( July 4, 1799, Paris &ndash July 8, 1859, Stockholm In 1907 a major restoration of the palace was carried out.
The current Swedish royal family have used Drottningholm as their primary residence since 1981. Since then the Palace has also been guarded by the Swedish Military in the same fashion as Stockholm Palace
The palace
The palace and its grounds have seen many renovations, changes and additions over the past 400 years. The Stockholm Palace ( Swedish: Stockholms slott) is the Official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. The largest renovation, in which electricity, heating, sewage, water lines were either put in or updated and the castle roof replaced, started in 1907 and was completed in 1913. During a 20 year period, starting around 1977, several major areas of the palace were restored and rebuilt. The library and national hall received much attention and fire protection was put in throughout the palace. In 1997 work began to clean and rebuild the exterior walls. This was completed five years later in 2002.
The palace church
The church was designed and erected by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. Nicodemus Tessin the Elder (Nicodemus Tessin den äldre (born 1615 in Stralsund; died 1681 in Stockholm) was an important Swedish Architect. It was completed by his son in May, 1746.
It is used to this day by the people of Lovön parish, who worship in the church on the last Sunday of every month. Inside the castle church a Cahman organ from 1730 is still in use. Another noteworthy item is the traditional church tapestry which was made by Gustaf V of Sweden.
The palace theatre
The Drottningholm Palace Theatre is the opera house located at the palace. The Drottningholm Palace Theatre (Drottningholms slottsteater is an Opera house located at Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden, which It is still in use, and its summer opera festivals are quite popular. At times the Royal Swedish Opera company guest performs.
The gardens
The gardens and park areas surrounding the castle and its buildings are one of the main attractions for the tourists that visit the palace each year. The gardens have been established in stages since the castle was built, resulting in different styles of parks and gardens.
The baroque garden
The oldest part of the gardens was created at the end of the 17th century under the direction of Hedwig Eleonora. The father and son Tessin led the project that created a baroque garden right outside the main palace, flanked by thick tree avenues. Traditionally an avenue is a straight road with a line of Trees or large Shrubs running along each side which is used as its French source venir ("to The many statues scattered throughout this area were created by the artist Adrian de Vries. Adriaen de Vries ( The Hague c 1556 - Prague 1626 was a Late Mannerist sculptor born in the Netherlands whose international style crossed the The baroque garden was neglected along with the rest of the grounds during the 19th century, but was restored in the 1950's and 1960's on the initiative of Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden.
The English garden
Gustav III of Sweden took the initiative for what is sometimes called the English garden section of Drottningholm. Gustav III ( – 29 March 1792) was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death This lies north of the baroque garden and consists of two ponds with canals, bridges, large open sections of grass, and trees in groups or avenues. Walkways are laid out throughout this large part of the park. Throughout this area "vistas" can be seen, cleared lines of sight that are intentionally constructed to draw the eye to a particular view. Most of the antique marble statues throughout the gardens were purchased by Gustav III from Italy. The purpose of the statues is to surprise a visitor by their unexpected appearance in a green area, or as a focal point for a vista.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, mainly because of the Drottningholm Palace Theatre and the Chinese Pavilion at Drottningholm. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex The Drottningholm Palace Theatre (Drottningholms slottsteater is an Opera house located at Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden, which The Chinese Pavilion (Kina slott located in the grounds of the Drottningholm Palace park is a Chinese-inspired royal pavilion built in 1753 It was added to the list in 1991. The UNESCO comments were:
| “ | The Royal Domain of Drottningholm stands on an island in Lake Mälar in a suburb of Stockholm. With its palace, perfectly preserved theatre (built in 1766), Chinese pavilion and gardens, it is the finest example of an 18th-century northern European royal residence inspired by the Palace of Versailles. | ” |
Gallery
 Drottningholm Palace, rear |
 East façade |
 Avenue in front of the palace |
 The strict lines of a baroque garden |
 Engraving c. 1700 |
 English Garden |
 Chinese Pavilion |
 Chinese Pavilion (Kina Slott) |
 Fountain |
 Rear of the Palace from the gardens |
References
- ^ Page 61 of the Swedish Ethymological Dictionary of Svenskt ortnamnslexikon, published 2003 by the institute of Språk- och folkminnesinstitutet, Uppsala. Uppsala ˈɵpˌsɑːla (older spelling Upsala) is the capital of Uppsala County ( Uppsala län) and the fourth largest city of The latter part "sund" means sound, and "torve" has to do with fishing (a prehistoric Swedish word).
External links
- Drottningholm Palace from the official website of the Swedish monarchy
- The Royal Domain of Drottningholm - National Heritage Board
- Wikimapia satellite image of Drottningholm Palace
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