Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1681, the palace was completed by his son, then already at work on Stockholm's
Kungliga Slottet.
Inside, good English notes are available to help you sort out the riot of Rococo
decoration in the rooms, which largely dates from the time when Drottningholm was
bestowed as a wedding gift on Princess Louisa Ulrika (a sister of Frederick the Great of
Prussia). No hints, however, are needed to spot the influences in the Baroque “French”
and the later “English”
gardens
that back onto the palace.
Since 1981, the Swedish royal family has lived out at Drottningholm, instead of in
the city centre, using it as a permanent home. This move has accelerated efforts to
restore parts of the palace to their original appearance, and the monumental
grand
staircase
is now once again exactly as envisaged by Tessin the Elder.
Also within the extensive palace grounds is the
Kina slott
(
Chinese Pavilion
), a sort of
eighteenth-century royal summerhouse. Originally built by King Adolf Fredrik as a
birthday gift to Queen Louisa Ulrika in 1753, the structure is Rococo in design and,
though it includes some Chinese flourishes which were the height of fashion at the
time of construction, it is predominantly European in appearance.
2
Slottsteater
Court Theatre • May-Aug daily 11am-4.30pm; Sept noon-3pm; obligatory guided tours every hour • 90kr •
W
dtm.se
Within the palace grounds, the
Slottsteater
dates from 1766, but its heyday was a
decade later, when Gustav III imported French plays and theatrical companies, making
Drottningholm the centre of Swedish artistic life. Take the guided tour and you'll get a
florid but accurate account of the theatre's decoration: money to complete the building
ran out in the eighteenth century, meaning that things are not what they seem
- painted papier-mâché frontages are
krona
-pinching substitutes for the real thing. The
original backdrops and stage machinery are still in place though, and the tour comes
complete with a display of eighteenth-century special effects including wind and
thunder machines, trapdoors and simulated lighting.
ARRIVAL
DROTTNINGHOLM
By boat
Boats sail from Stadshusbron on Kungsholmen to
Drottningholm during the summer months (May to early
Sept daily 9.30am-6pm, hourly; early Sept to late Oct Sat
& Sun 2 daily; 90kr one-way, 120kr return), and take just
under an hour each way.
By T-bana and bus
Take the T-bana to Brommaplan and
then any bus from Brommaplan bus terminal (immediately
outside the T-bana station). Buses leave from the stop
marked for Drottningholm. The Stockholm Card and SL
travelcards are valid to Drottningholm.
Birka
The island of
Björkö
(the name means “island of birches”), in Lake Mälaren, is the site
of Sweden's oldest town,
BIRKA
, which was founded around 750AD and is now a
UNESCO World Heritage site. For over two centuries, Birka was the most important
Viking trading centre in the northern countries, benefiting from its strategic location
near the mouth of Lake Mälaren on the portage route to Russia and the Byzantine
Empire. Today, a visit here is not only an opportunity to get to grips with Sweden's
stirring Viking heritage, thanks to the site's excellent museum, but it's also a chance to
explore the tranquil waters of Lake Mälaren - should you choose to take the boat here,
which is by far the best means of getting to Birka.
Brief history
After Birka was founded in the mid-eighth century, tradesmen and merchants were
quick to take advantage of the prosperous and rapidly expanding village, and the
population soon grew to around one thousand. The future patron saint of Scandinavia,
Ansgar
, came here in 830 as a missionary at the instruction of the Holy Roman
Emperor, Louis I, and established a church in an attempt to Christianize the heathen
