Palaces, manors and town halls in Sweden
Stora Hästnäs
Stora Hästnäs is a medieval manor house. The best preserved building is a stone-made warehouse dating back to the 14th century. Today the manor is privately owned.Charlottenlund Castle
Charlottenlund castle (or manor) lies in the countryside about eight kilometres west of Ystad. The present stately home was built in 1849 and is influenced by the medieval Romanesque style. It is surrounded by beautiful landscaped gardens. It possesses an excellent collection of art from the Nordic world. There is also a fine library. Guided tours are offered to groups by arrangement.Stora Herrestad
The guest house in Stora Herrestad is one of the oldest in Scania, and dates back to the 1600s. The old stable, which now serves as our banquet room, was used by travellers on their long journeys and the old main building, where the restaurant is now located, was the courthouse. In the 1780s the old main building was destroyed by fire, but was then rebuilt as an inn during the 1800s. The courthouse was relocated across t ...Esplunda Manor
Esplunda estate was established in 1616. The current manor house was built in 1872 and it was enlarged to the Baroque-style appearance in 1904. Wings date from the 18th century. Esplunda has a very significant library with 15,000 books and manuscripts dating from the 1600-1700s.Trystorp Manor
Trystorp is a Swedish estate in Lekeberg. To the south of the manor, there is a nature reserve which is open to the public, with a rich fauna and many old oaks. The estate was established by Biskop Kort Rogge in 1495, who bought land in the area. The Livonian nobleman Henrik von Falkenberg was subsequently awarded Trystorp as a fief. In the 16th century, King Charles IX of Sweden was a frequent guest at Trystorp. The Fa ...Adelsnäs Manor
Adelsnäs (formerly known as Näs) manor was named after Johan Adelswärd, who acquired the local copper mine in 1781. The present manor building was built Theodor Adelswärd in 1916-1920. English garden and parks around the Bysjön lake are popular when open to the public. The unique detail is a “Sun Cannon”, which is installed in a red brick tower from 1853. It is a 6-pound cannon from t ...Östrabo Bishop’s House
Östrabo biskopsgård (Bishop’s House) consists of main building (built 1792-1796) and four annexes. It was built by bishop Olof Wallquist.Hanaskog Castle
Hanaskog estate was first mentioned in 1308. It has been owned among others by Walkendorff, Citzwitz and Rosentvist families. The current two-storey castle was built in 1852-1854 by Carl Axel Wachtmeister. He sold Hanaskog to famous De Geer familyin 1891 and it is still owned by Baron Willem De Geer.Jordberga Castle
Jordberga estate was first mentionedin 1355. The original castle was destroyed by fire in 1644 and rebuilt. The current Baroque-style exterior dates from 1906-1908, when the castle was rebuilt according the design of Danish architect Heneri Glaesel. The park is an English-style garden and dates from the mid-19th century. Today castle is owned by Otto von Arnold, member of the Swedish Riksdag.Össjö Castle
The current main building of Össjö Castle was built in 1814 after the previous was destroyed by fire. The two wings, dating from 1766 and 1770s survived from the fire. The Össjö history dates from the 16th century, when it belonged to the powerful Danish Krabbe family. Today it is privately owned and not open to the public.Ovesholm Castle
The first known owner of Ovesholm estate was Åke Holm in 1580. In 1620 Ove Urup built an earlier main building near to the current site. In 1774 it was donated to Henning Reinhold Wrangel and his son Carl Adam Wrangel af Adinal built the present castle between 1792-1804. Carl Adam also created a notable library and collection of art and sculptures to Ovesholm. The latest enlargement was made by Axel Hugo Raoul Hamil ...Rönneholm Castle
Rönneholm Castle history dates from the Middle Ages. The current castle was built c. 1811 and the third storey was added in 1882. The fire damaged castle badly in 1941. Today it is a conference center.Rosendal Palace
Rosendal Palace was built 1615 by Privy Council Anders Bille. The Bennet family has owned the palace for centuries. The castle consists of main building and wings with towers in corners.Gripenberg Castle
Gripenberg Castle (Gripenbergs slott) is a wooden manor house. It is considered to be the biggest wooden castle in Sweden and one of the oldest that remain today as well. The castle was built in 1663 as a huntig seat for the field marshal Carl Gustaf Wrangel. Its architect is unknown, but there is some reason to believe, that it might have been Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. It is assumed that the castle"s name is deri ...Boo Castle
Boo fideikommiss (estate in tail) was founded in 1735. The first owner was one of the generals of the Swedish king Charles XII, baron H. J. Hamilton. After imprisonment in Russia he took up residence at Boo. Thereafter the estate has been inherited within the family Hamilton af Hageby. The current Boo Castle was built to the grounds of older manor house in 1874-1882. The Neo-Gothic building was designed by Johan Fredrik & ...Ulvåsa Manor
Ulvåsa, or Ulfåsa, is an mansion by lake Boren outside Motala in Östergötland, Sweden. The construction of the present mansion began in the 16th century. In the early 19th century a third floor was added and it got its present architecture. The medieval Ulvåsa was situated a few kilometers west of the present mansion. Today, there are ruins left of the manor where SaintBridget of Sweden lived ...Västanå Manor
The history of Våstana estate dates from the 1590s and the current main building was mainly reconstructed in 1767. Since 1948 it has been a hotel and restautant.Torsåker Manor
Torsåker manor is one of the finest palaces in Uppland. The current main castle-like main building was built in the 1870s and restored in 1902.Stola Manor
The Ekeblad family owned Stola estate from the 1530"s untill 1879. Several members of the family was noted commanders, royal councillors and country govenors. The building was unoccupied for a greater part of ofthe 19th century, but it has been renovated since and returned to it"s 18th century splendours. Since the end of 1980"s Stola has been owned by a foundation, and part of the groundfloor is used as pr ...Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Kromeriz Castle and Gardens
Kroměříž stands on the site of an earlier ford across the River Morava. The gardens and castle of Kroměříž are an exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a European Baroque princely residence and its gardens and described as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The first residence on the site was founded by bishop Stanislas Thurzo in 1497. The building was in a Late Gothic style, with a modicum of Renaissance detail. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was sacked by the Swedish army (1643).
It was not until 1664 that a bishop from the powerful Liechtenstein family charged architect Filiberto Lucchese with renovating the palace in a Baroque style. The chief monument of Lucchese's work in Kroměříž is the Pleasure Garden in front of the castle. Upon Lucchese's death in 1666, Giovanni Pietro Tencalla completed his work on the formal garden and had the palace rebuilt in a style reminiscent of the Turinese school to which he belonged.
After the castle was gutted by a major fire in March 1752, Bishop Hamilton commissioned two leading imperial artists, Franz Anton Maulbertsch and Josef Stern, arrived at the residence in order to decorate the halls of the palace with their works. In addition to their paintings, the palace still houses an art collection, generally considered the second finest in the country, which includes Titian's last mythological painting, The Flaying of Marsyas. The largest part of the collection was acquired by Bishop Karel in Cologne in 1673. The palace also contains an outstanding musical archive and a library of 33,000 volumes.
UNESCO lists the palace and garden among the World Heritage Sites. As the nomination dossier explains, 'the castle is a good but not outstanding example of a type of aristocratic or princely residence that has survived widely in Europe. The Pleasure Garden, by contrast, is a very rare and largely intact example of a Baroque garden'. Apart from the formal parterres there is also a less formal nineteenth-century English garden, which sustained damage during floods in 1997.
Interiors of the palace were extensively used by Miloš Forman as a stand-in for Vienna's Hofburg Imperial Palace during filming of Amadeus (1984), based on the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who actually never visited Kroměříž. The main audience chamber was also used in the film Immortal Beloved (1994), in the piano concerto scene.