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Founded: 1652-1670Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Sweden
Historical period: Swedish Empire (Sweden)
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Wrangel Palace is a townhouse mansion on Riddarholmen islet in the old town of Stockholm. The southern tower used to be part of Gustav Vasa's defence fortifications from the 1530s. Around 1630, the mansion was turned into a palace for Lars Sparre. From 1652 to 1670, the palace was rebuilt and expanded by architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder for Count Carl Gustaf Wrangel. After a fire in 1693, the palace was rebuilt and expanded once again, this time to become a royal residence after the devastating fire that left the Tre Kronor Castle in ruins (1697). In 1802, the palace had to be rebuilt once again after a fire. This time the architect was C.G. Gjörwell.
Wrangel Palace was the official Stockholm residence of the royal family and court from 1697 until 1754, when the Royal Palace of Stockholm was completed. During this time, the Palace was called Kungshuset (The Kings House). From 1756 to 1928, it housed the Statskontoret (Office of state). Since 1756 the palace has housed Svea Court of Appeal (Svea Hovrätt), the regional court of appeal.
References:Built around AD 90 to entertain the legionaries stationed at the fort of Caerleon (Isca), the impressive amphitheatre was the Roman equivalent of today’s multiplex cinema. Wooden benches provided seating for up to 6,000 spectators, who would gather to watch bloodthirsty displays featuring gladiatorial combat and exotic wild animals.
Long after the Romans left, the amphitheatre took on a new life in Arthurian legend. Geoffrey of Monmouth, the somewhat imaginative 12th-century scholar, wrote in his History of the Kings of Britain that Arthur was crowned in Caerleon and that the ruined amphitheatre was actually the remains of King Arthur’s Round Table.
Today it is the most complete Roman amphitheatre in Britain.