Sweden Guide
Stockholm
Kungliga Slottet
Website: www.royalcourt.se
The most distinctive monumental building in Stockholm is Kungliga Slottet (the Royal Palace), a low, yellowy-brown structure whose two front arms stretch down towards the water. Stockholm's old Tre Kronor (Three Crowns) castle burned down at the beginning of King Karl XII's reign, leaving his architect, Tessin the Younger, with a clean slate on which to design his simple but beautiful Renaissance structure. Finished in 1754, the palace is a striking achievement: uniform and sombre from the outside, its magnificent Baroque and rococo interior is a swirl of state rooms and museums. A combination ticket costing 120kr valid for all the various parts of the palace can be bought at any entrance.