Stockholm Palace - Kungliga Slottet
Kungliga Slottet is located in Stockholm, Sweden. This is the palace, which for centuries was the home of Swedish monarchs. Next to the palace Kungliga Slottet building is located the Swedish Parliament. The palace is where the royal court is located. The palace is used for entertainment by the King of Sweden.
The first building constructed at the site where today the palace stands, was a fortress with a tower. This building was erected in the thirteenth century. The aim of the fortress was to be protected lake Mälaren. Gradually, this turned into a fortress palace, which became known as the Tre Kronor.
At the end of the sixteenth century, huge changes were made, for the building to become a Renaissance style palace. In 1690 it was decided for the building to become a palace in the baroque style. The works were completed in 1697, but much of the palace was destroyed in a fire on May 7 that year.
The palace was gradually restored, although restoration work still took sixty-three years. The church of the palace was completed in 1740. The Royal family moved into the palace, when almost all its leaves except the northwest one were completed. It was completed in 1760. The northern part, known as Lejonbacken was reconstructed in 1830. This part has sculptures of lions. Kungliga Slottet palace is guarded by the Royal Guard Högvakten, which fulfills this duty since the sixteenth century.
Palace Kungliga Slottet was built primarily of brick. The roof is covered with copper plates. Kungliga Slotte Palace has over fourteen hundred rooms and is considered one of the largest royal palaces in the world. The palace was designed so that its southern facade symbolizes the nation, the western facade symbolizes the king, eastern facade symbolizes the queen and north facade symbolizes the whole kingdom.
The palace is long one hundred and fifteen meters from west to east and from north to south its length is one hundred and twenty meters.
In the North East wing is a museum with antiques, in which you can see ancient sculptures found in Italy. In the southern part of the palace is the palace church treasury, where the Crown Jewels are kept.
In the western part of the palace is the flat Bernadotte, and the entrance to the hall of the orders of knights. The apartment is located on the third floor of the palace. In this part of the palace is the oldest museum in Sweden - Livrustkammaren. In this museum you can see priceless collections of antique weapons and military uniforms. Here can be seen some of the ancient royal jewelry.
In the northern part of the palace are the apartments of the King and Queen of Sweden. Their apartments are designed so that the bedrooms have wardrobes, and auxiliary facilities. In the northern part is also the ballroom Vita Havet. In this part of the palace is located the gallery of Charles XI. Since the fifties of last century, this room is used for a banquet hall, as it can accommodate two hundred seated guests. In the gallery are organized a dozen dinners each year.
This part is the Tre Kronor museum. It is situated in the former kitchen of the castle Tre Kronor are the oldest rooms in the whole palace.
In the northern part of Kungliga Slottet is the old square room where the king met with government representatives. On the first floor in the northern part of the palace are rooms which are used for exhibitions and lectures. In these halls King Gustaf VI Adolf stayed.
