- Strömsholm Palace
Strömsholm Palace, sometimes called Strömsholm Castle ( _sv. Strömsholms slott), is a Swedish royal palace. The baroque palace is built on the site of a fortress from the 1550s, located on an island in the
Kolbäcksån river at the west end ofLake Mälaren . The palace has interiors from the 1700s and an important collection of Swedish paintings.History
King Gustav Vasa had a fortress built at Strömsholm in the 1550s. This later provided the foundation for the present Strömsholm Palace, built in 1669-1674 for Queen Hedvig Eleonora to a design by
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder . The palace consists of a central building framed by four square corner towers. On the park side, there is a large,dome d central tower. Around 20 estate buildings were erected at the same time as the palace, and the first stages of a park in the Frenchbaroque style were laid out.Work on the interiors came to a halt when the building's fabric was completed. Not until the 1730s was the first phase of interior work carried out, including a palace
chapel in the attic designed by the Swedish architectCarl Hårleman . The interiors at Strömsholm Palace are largely Gustavian in style. In 1766 the heir to the Swedish throne, later King Gustav III, married PrincessSophia Magdalena of Denmark . As a wedding present from the SwedishRiksdag , she was given Strömsholm Palace. Extensive interior works commenced, under the architectural direction ofCarl Fredrik Adelcrantz , and continued into the 19th century. The queen's bedchamber is a prime example of Swedishinterior design from the start of the Gustavian era, as well as the Chinese dining room with its fabric-covered walls with Chinese style paintings done by the renowned tapestry painterLars Bolander .The palace also houses an important collection of Swedish paintings from the 1600s, amongst others
David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl 's paintings of King Charles XII's horses. Since the 16th centery, Strömsholm has been an equestrian center of Sweden. In the 1550s, King Gustav Vasa reinforced the importance of horses here, by raising horses for Sweden´s army. The Strömsholm Riding School was a part of the Swedish Army from 1868 to 1968. Today, Strömsholm is used as a hippodrome, where equestrian competitions are held each year.In 1985, the palace underwent major
renovation of itsfacade . Over the years, the exterior had undergone various alterations, but theplasterwork as originally applied in the 1670s was largely intact. The roof was covered withtar shingles until the 19th century, when these were replaced withtin . The palace was restored in stages during the 1990s. The disposition of the rooms in the royal apartments was restored, and the 18th-century furnishings were placed in the correct context. One of the most important features of the restoration was the reproduction of the 1760swallpaper , the original of which was found in isolation on an attic beam in one of the houses on the estate. Oldlinen towels were transformed into royal wallpaper.References
*sv icon cite book |first=Fredric |last=Bedoire |title=Svenska slott och herrgårdar |location=Stockholm |publisher=Bonnier |year=2006 |id=ISBN 91-0-010577-5
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