Gustav III's Pavilion is a royal pavilion

Pavilion (structure)

In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...

 at the Haga Park

Hagaparken

Hagaparken , or simply Haga in Solna Municipality just north of Stockholm, Sweden is a vast and popular nature area, with large parks, lakes, woods and gardens...

, 2 km north of Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

. As a highlight in Swedish art history, the Pavilion is a fine example of the European neoclassicism

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 of the late 18th century in Northern Europe. Beside the Pavilion lie the "Sultan's Copper Tents", buildings designed to resemble big tents.

Pavilion

The pavilion was built in 1787 by the architect Olof Tempelman with detailed instructions from King Gustav III

Gustav III of Sweden

Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....

 who was highly personally involved in the project, producing some basic designs himself and suggesting changes once the work was under way. Theses changes included extending both wings by the span of two windows.

The designer Louis Masreliez

Louis Masreliez

Louis Masreliez , born Adrien Louis Masreliez, was a Swedish painter and interior designer.Masreliez was born in Paris and came to Sweden in 1753. He began his education at Ritakademien at the age of 10. Since the academy did not teach painting, he studied at Lorens Gottman's workshop...

– who became a trendsetter in the interior design of the period– was commissioned for the interiors. The pavilion was just one of many great plans and visions that Gustav III had for the Haga Park, many of which made it no further than the drawing board. Gustav III made use of the pavilion for a few years before his assassination. It was from the pavilion that Gustav III left for the fateful masquerade ball at the Opera on 16 March 1792. After the assassination of Gustav III, Duke Charles

Charles XIII of Sweden

Charles XIII & II also Carl, , was King of Sweden from 1809 and King of Norway from 1814 until his death...

 used the pavilion as his temporary residence.

In the 1840s, King Oscar I

Oscar I of Sweden

Oscar I was King of Sweden and Norway from 1844 to his death. When, in August 1810, his father Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was elected Crown Prince of Sweden, Oscar and his mother moved from Paris to Stockholm . Oscar's father was the first ruler of the current House of Bernadotte...

 commissioned a restoration of the building by architect George Theodor Chiewitz. Sculptures and other plasterwork ornamental features were painted grey and added to the façade, which was originally yellow and without decoration. The ionic columns at the gables were replaced by new columns in Italian marble. The glass wall of the Hall of Mirrors was re-worked with new, thin bronze glazing-bars and the outdoor stairway was clad in white marble. The dining room was decorated in a Pompeian style, including the ceiling.

The Pavilion underwent a major restoration

Building restoration

Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...

 between 1937 and 1946 under palace architect Ragnar Hjort. During this time, thanks to the discovery of original Masreliez

Masreliez

Masreliez is a French family name belonging to a family of artists of French origin and of a Swedish line of descent.Some members of the Masreliez family members traveled to Sweden in the 18th century, convoked to Sweden by the king Gustaf III to make decorations on his castles during the golden...

 designs for each room, it was possible to restore the interior to its original form.

Copper Tents

The Sultan's Copper Tents, originally three buildings for the palace guard, designed by the painter Louis Jean Desprez

Louis Jean Desprez

Louis Jean Desprez ca 1743–18 March 1804 was a French painter and architect who worked in Sweden during the last twenty years of his life....

 and built during 1787 to 1790. Desprez proposed that all the façades of the buildings should be designed as three Turkish tents, clad in decoratively painted copper plate. However, tent façades were only built on the side facing the main lawns, which still gives the desired illusion of a sultan's encampment on the edge of the forest.

The middle tent was destroyed completely by fire in 1953. The front of the tent was rebuilt during 1962 to 1964 under the leadership of palace architect Ragnar Hjorth. The buildings behind the tent façades were rebuilt in 1977-1978, following plans by palace architect Torbjörn Olsson. He turned the stableyard, formerly open, into a tent room with a ceiling. Today the middle copper tent is home to the Haga Park Museum. The tent to the east houses a restaurant and the one on the western side is accommodation. The copper tents are a national monument and protected under law.

In 1996, the area comprising Ulriksdal, Haga Park

Hagaparken

Hagaparken , or simply Haga in Solna Municipality just north of Stockholm, Sweden is a vast and popular nature area, with large parks, lakes, woods and gardens...

, Brunnsviken and Djurgården became the world's first National City Park

Ekoparken

The Royal National City Park is the world's first National City Park, established in 1995 in the municipalities of Stockholm, Solna and Lidingö in Sweden.1/ km²2/ Population per km²- Pictures :Some places in "The Eco Park"....

. The area is unique by virtue of its natural, cultural and recreational value and its direct proximity to a big city. Mainly administered by the Royal Djurgården Administration, the creation of the National City Park serves to strengthen the prospects of perpetuating the royal historic heritage spanning from Djurgården hunting park to the Gustavian parklands of Haga.