Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
laid panels. Peek into the little room (to the left of the fireplace, with a fine
castle illustration embedded in its hidden door) to see the king's toilet. Also in
here was a secret escape hatch the king could use in case of trouble. Perhaps
King Erik XIV was right to be so paranoid; he eventually died under mysteri-
ous circumstances, perhaps poisoned by his brother Johan III, who succeeded
him as king.
Backtrack through the dining room and continue into the
Golden Hall,
with its gorgeously carved (and painstakingly restored) gilded ceiling. The en-
tire ceiling is suspended from the true ceiling by chains. If you visually trace
the ceiling, the room seems crooked—but it's actually an optical illusion to
disguise the fact that it's not perfectly square. Find the portraits of the (dys-
functional) royal family whose tales enliven this place: Gustav Vasa, one of
his wives, sons Erik XIV and Johan III, and Johan's son Sigismund.
Peek into
Agda's Chamber,
the bedroom of Erik's consort. The replica
furniture re-creates how it looked when the king's kept woman lived here.
Later, the same room was used for a different type of captivity: as a prison cell
for female inmates.
Go to the top of the King's Staircase (also made of gravestones like the
Queen's Staircase, and topped by a pair of lions). The big door leads to the
grand
Green Hall,
once used for banquets and now for concerts.
At the end of this hall, the
chapel
is one of Sweden's most popular wed-
ding venues (up to four ceremonies each Saturday). As reflected by the lan-
guage of the posted Bible quotations, the sexes sat separately: men, on the
warmer right side, were more literate and could read Latin; women, on the
cooler left side, read Swedish. The fancy pews at the front were reserved for
the king and queen.
At the far end, near the altar, a door leads to a stairwell with a model ship,
donated by a thankful sailor who survived a storm. In the next room is Anita,
the stuffed body of the last horse who served with the Swedish military (until
1937); beyond that you might find some temporary exhibits.
The rest of the castle complex includes the vast
Burned Hall,
which—true
to its name—feels stripped-down and is not as richly decorated. In summer
