The estate known as Medelgård was first mentioned in 1345. The current castle dates from 1573; it was extended in 1873 and again in 1888-1891. Part of it has been converted to five private apartments. A farm building is being used as a restaurant.
The castle is owned by the Iuel family. The family moved back into the castle in the autumn of 2006 after its restoration following a devastating fire on 26 February 2003, which burnt through most of the roof and attic. The estate is of 2070 hectares, of which 543 are farmed and 1220 are forested.
References:
The Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains: the extraordinary system contains fifty-one fountains and nymphaeums, 398 spouts, 364 water jets, 64 waterfalls, and 220 basins, fed by 875 meters of canals, channels and cascades, and all working entirely by the force of gravity, without pumps. It is now an Italian state museum, and is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Tivoli had been a popular summer residence since ancient Roman times due to its altitude, cooler temperatures and its proximity to the Villa Hadriana, the summer residence of the Emperor Hadrian I.
The Villa was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (1509-1572), second son of Alfonso I d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara and grandson of Pope Alexander VI, along with Lucrezia Borgia.