Drottningholm Palace

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the looooong delay in writing some posts. I've been doing some really interesting things, and now I need to finally tell you all about them!

So in my last post, I mentioned that I stopped at Drottningholm Palace on the way home from my visit to the island Malmhuvud. Because Julie's house is right across the street from the palace complex, I left my bags in her garden (hidden under some bushes) and spent the afternoon exploring the palace grounds. Drottningholm Palace was built in 1662, and it is currently the residence of the royal family.

Wing of palace where current royal family lives

 I had a lovely tour of the palace (sorry, but I couldn't take any pictures inside!). There were many beautiful rooms, but what I enjoyed the most was the guide's explanation of the royal history of Sweden. There were many royal portraits on the walls, and I liked learning how everyone was connected. My favorite room, of course, was the library. The original books collected by the queen who stocked the library aren't actually in the room anymore, but it is still filled with beautiful old editions of books, mostly in French. I wasn't surprised when the guide said the palace was built in a style similar to Versailles. Not that I've been to Versailles, but from pictures I've seen, the palace and gardens of Drottningholm have a similar grand feeling.

After my tour of the palace, I ran over to the palace theater, Drottningholm Slottsteater, in order to go on a tour. This building was constructed in 1766, and houses an impressive baroque theater. Before 1800, the theater fell into disuse, and only in 1920 was it restored. While electricity was added, many of the original equipment is still used today. I found the stage to be really unique for theaters today, in that it is really deep compared to its width. The Drottningholm Palace Theater is actually the only functioning baroque theater today that has not been remodeled. They still hold operas there quite often. As a theater nerd, I was really happy to learn all about this space.

Drottningholm Palace Theater

I then wanted to go on a tour at the Chinese Pavilion, a space built in 1769 for the current queen of Stockholm. I had to speed-walk through some beautiful gardens to make it to the tour on-time, but it was definitely worth it. The pavilion was an interesting blend of rococo style mixed with Chinese influences, which were really popular in Europe at the time.

Chinese Pavilion

I ended my trip by leisurely wandering around the gardens near the palace. The park complex is open to the public, so there were many people just having picnics or going running. I can't imagine being able to use a palace's garden as my neighborhood park. That must be wonderful. Drottninholm was very beautiful, and I was glad to learn more about the history of Swedish royalty.

Drottningholm Palace and gardens

The palace