Drottningholm Palace

Origin 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 queen, Catherine Jagiellon. This palace was preceded by a royal mansion called Torvesund. The Queen Dowager Regent Hedwig Eleonora bought the castle throughout 1661, a year after her role as queen of Sweden ended, but it burnt to the ground on 30 December that same year. Hedwig Eleonora engaged the architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder to design and rebuild the castle. In 1662, work began on the reconstruction of the building. With the castle almost complete, Tessin died in 1681. His son Nicodemus Tessin the Younger continued his work and completed the elaborate interior designs. The Flemish sculptor Nicolaes Millich made for the great staircase and hall sculptures of the nine muses in marble, along with a series of busts of Gothic kings. In addition, he also made bust portraits of King Charles X Gustav, his wife Hedwig Eleonor and both their sons, the young King Charles XI, probably also of Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie and his wife Maria Euphrosyne, a sister of King Charles X Gustav. Millich and his assistant Burchard Precht also made decorative wood carvings in the Queen Dowager's bed chamber. During the period of the reconstruction, Hedwig Eleonora was head of the regency for the still-underage king, Charles XI of Sweden, from 1660 to 1672. Sweden had grown to be a powerful country after the Peace of Westphalia. The position of the Queen, essentially the ruler of Sweden, demanded an impressive residence located conveniently close to Stockholm. During the reign of the kings Charles XI of Sweden and Charles XII of Sweden, the royal court was often present at the palace, which was used for hunting. Hedwig Eleonora used the palace as a summer residence until her death in 1715, also when she had become the undisputed host of the royal court during the absence of Charles XII in the Great Northern War (1700–1721). 18th century Drottningholm continued to serve regularly as a summer residence for the royal court during the entire 18th-century. After the death of Hedwig Eleonora in 1715, Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden and King Frederick I of Sweden held court at the palace in the summer. ==The palace==

The palace and its grounds have seen many renovations, changes and additions over the past 400 years. The largest renovation, in which electricity, heating, sewage, water lines were either installed or updated and the castle roof replaced, took place between 1907 and 1913. During a 20-year-period beginning around 1977, several major areas of the palace were restored and rebuilt. The library and national hall received much of the attention and fire protection was installed throughout the palace. In 1997, work began to clean and rebuild the exterior walls. This was completed in 2002. The palace church The church was designed and erected by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. It was completed by his son in May, 1746. It is still used 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 Gustav V of Sweden. The palace theatre The Drottningholm Palace Theatre is the opera house located at the palace. It is still in use, and its summer opera festivals are quite popular. At times the Royal Swedish Opera company guest performs. The Chinese Pavilion The Chinese Pavilion, located on the grounds of the Drottningholm Palace park, is a Chinese-inspired royal pavilion built in 1763–1770. ==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. The many statues scattered throughout this area were created by the artist Adrian de Vries; the Swedish army took them as spoils of war from the Wallenstein Palace in Prague, while the two marble lions at the main gate of the palace were transported from the Ujazdów Castle in Warsaw. The English garden Gustav III of Sweden took the initiative for the English landscape garden of Drottningholm. This lies north of the Baroque garden and consists of two ponds with canals, bridges, large open lawns, 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. It was added to the list in 1991. The UNESCO comments were: ==Gallery==

File:Drottningholm May 2025 04.jpg|Drottningholm Palace, rear File:Drottningholm Palace (by Pudelek) 1.jpg|East façade File:Drottningholm Royal Palace Stockholm Sweden.jpg|The palace seen from Kärsön in evening File:Drottningholm May 2025 01.jpg|View of the palace with the Hercules fountain in front File:Drottningholmsparken1.jpg|The strict lines of a Baroque garden File:Suecia 1-077 ; Drottningholm detail.jpg|Engraving c. 1700 File:Drottningholm May 2025 02.jpg|An allée in the palace park File:Stockholm Sweden Royal-Domain-of Drottningholm Drottningholms-Kina-Slott-01.jpg|Chinese Pavilion (Kina Slott) File:Drottningholm May 2025 03.jpg|Fountain File:Drottningholm Palace5.JPG|Rear of the Palace from the gardens File:0061Drottningholms slott.jpg|Aerial view over Drottningholms slott. ==See also==