[SWEDEN] Stockholm - Royal Palace

21:43 Travel Bunny 0 Comments

The Royal Palace of Stockholm is the Swedish Royal Family’s official residence. Completed in 1754, it is partly built on the remains of the former castle which was destroyed by fire in 1697. The palace is built in baroque style and it has more than 600 rooms spread over eleven floors. It has three museums with royal history: the Treasury with the regalia, the Tre Kronor Museum that portrays the palaces medieval history and Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities.

Entrance to the Royal Palace. It is located in Gamla Stan, nearby Storkyrkan cathedral.

The Royal Palace is open to public all year round. For the opening times of the palace, please visit the website for more information: https://www.kungligaslotten.se/english/royal-palaces-and-sites/the-royal-palace/opening-hours.html

The Royal Guard standing guard outside the palace. The changing of the guard and parade usually begins at 12.15pm on weekdays and 1.15pm on Sundays and public holidays. It lasts for about 40 minutes.

Once the palace was opened, I went in. The interior looked quite majestic. Take note that baby strollers are not permitted in the palace. They can be parked by the western entrance to the Royal Apartments.

Hello there!

The ticket price for the palace was SEK 160. A combination ticket including Riddarholmen Church is SEK 180.

This is the Hall of State. The Hall of State was completed and ready for use in time for the sitting of Parliament in 1755. It was also where the ruling classes congregated under the chairmanship of the King.

Up till 1975, the King opened Parliament every year with a formal ceremony held in the Hall of State. The opening ceremony now takes place in the Parliament Building but the Hall of State still used on the other state occasions.

Queen Kristina received the silver throne as a gift from Magnus Gabriel De La Gardie on the occasion of her coronation in 1650.

Next, I visited the Royal Armoury. It displays ceremonial equipment, weapons and costumes from Sweden’s royal history.

Vestment of the bishop of the order from about 1783.

The Hall of the Order of Vasa. The Order of Vasa, in five grades, was founded in 1772 by king Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish and foreign men and (from 1952 onwards) women for merits in trade and industry, arts and industry of applied arts. But it has been dormant since 1975.

Resting on the landing between the Bernadotte Apartments and the Apartment of the Orders of Chivalry, is Theodor Lundberg’s marble sculpture, The Wave and the Beach, created in 1898.

Closer look to The Wave and the Beach sculpture.

The Royal Gift Shop.

Many of the products are produced in limited editions and can only be purchased at the Royal Gift Shop.

Going up the stairs to the State Apartments.

Ceiling above the stairways.

Another marble sculpture.

The State Apartments consist of nine state rooms. They are used when the King and Queen entertain their guests.

The Cabinet Room. Still today the room is used during cabinet meetings between The King and the government.

This is the King Karl XI’s Gallery. Gala banquets are held during state visits, and three or four official dinners take place each year here.

The Nobel laureates are invited to a dinner here each year on the day after the prizes are presented in the Concert Hall.

Impressive ceiling painting at the King Karl XI’s Gallery.

This is the Palace's ballroom, better known as The White Sea Hall. The King and Queen welcome their guests here before the banquet and after the meal, the room is used as a drawing room.

The Guest Apartments have been used to accommodate official visiting heads of state since 1870s.

The Great Bedchamber is the major bedchamber of the Guest Apartments. The room has the same function today as it did when Prince Fredrik Adolf first lived here as a child.

The safe, in the form of an iron stove, was made in Stralsund in 1800.

Going downstairs to visit Tre Kronor (Three Crowns) Museum.

This museum is dedicated to the original Tre Kronor Palace in Stockholm, which was destroyed in a violent fire in 1697. The museum is located on the ground floor of the palace's northern wing, which is also the section which survived the fire the best.

This wood cellar has been in use since the 18th century. Even today, wood is carried up to the Palace’s open fireplaces and stoves from here. As technology progressed, the use of wood decreased.

A 3D model depict the castle's development from a medieval stronghold to a castle.

The defense wall is 5.5m solid, 7m high on the inside, 11m on the outside and 115m long. Only the top of the wall was coated in brick. In the 13th century, brick was a new and expensive material.