Makalös was the colloquial name for the grand mansion, or palace

Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...

, of the Swedish noble family de la Gardie

De la Gardie

De la Gardie, occasionally de la Gardie , is a Swedish noble family of French origin. The family's social status in France before the migration to Sweden is uncertain, they were possibly of lower gentry or bourgeoisie...

. Situated at Norrström

Norrström

Norrström in central Stockholm connects Lake Mälaren with the Baltic Sea. It runs from Riddarfjärden, north of Gamla stan, to Saltsjön. Two islands lie within it, Strömsborg and Helgeandsholmen. It is one of two natural waterways between Mälaren and the Baltic sea, the other being Söderström south...

, south of Kungsträdgården

Kungsträdgården

Kungsträdgården is a park in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is colloquially known as Kungsan.The park's central location and its outdoor cafés makes it one of the most popular hangouts and meeting places in Stockholm. It also hosts open-air concerts and events in summer, while offering an ice...

 in 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...

 and vis-à-vis the Royal Palace

Stockholm Palace

The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. . Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen , in Gamla Stan in the capital, Stockholm...

, the building was completed in 1653 and demolished in 1825 after a fire.

Construction

Construction of the mansion was begun in the 1630s on a piece of land owned by Jakob De la Gardie. De la Gardie tasked Hans Jacob Kristler with the construction. The five-floor building was built of brick and stone with a copper roof. The living quarters were situated in the ground floor, the festivities hall on the second (piano nobile

Piano nobile

The piano nobile is the principal floor of a large house, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture...

), dancing and music rooms on the third, and stores and armoury on the fourth and fifth floors. The cellar comprised larders, while housekeeping facilities, stables and gardens were situated outside the main building. Four towers marked the corners of a facade richly decorated with stone masonry and adorned with bay window

Bay window

A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay windows are often associated with Victorian architecture...

s and column-supported loggia

Loggia

Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...

s in Italian style. The interior was equally splendid, with stucco

Stucco

Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...

 decorations, picturesque plafond

Plafond

Plafond , in a broad sense, is any ceiling of any premise.Plafond can be product of monumental and decorative painting and sculpture; subject or ornamental – also is designated by the term "Plafond"...

s, tapestries

Tapestry

Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...

, decorative masonry, and galleries of paintings.

At the time of construction, the building's size and architecture stood in stark contrast to the humble surroundings and were unrivalled in Sweden. Although the mansion was colloquially known as "Makalös", the de la Gardie family referred to it exclusively as Stora huset ("the great house").

Use

Jakob de la Gardie died in 1652 and his widow Ebba Brahe

Ebba Brahe

Ebba Magnusdotter Brahe was a lady-in-waiting in the Swedish court, countess, and the mistress of king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden...

 moved into a mansion in Götgatan

Götgatan

Götgatan is the name of one of the longest streets in central Stockholm on the Southern Isle of the city...

 that had formerly been owned by the De Geer

De Geer

De Geer is a family of Walloon origin which became notable in Sweden and the Netherlands...

 family. Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of the Realm, namely Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High...

 inherited Makalös, together with the family's extensive properties in Sweden and Finland. The reduction

Reduction (Sweden)

In the reductions in Sweden, fiefs that had been granted to the Swedish nobility were returned to the Crown.The first reduction under Charles X Gustav of Sweden in 1655 restored a quarter of "donations" made after 1632. In the Great Reduction of 1680 under Charles XI of Sweden the Crown...

 in 1684 cost him the greatest part of his property, with the exception of Venngarn castle, where he died two years later. Under the ownership of the crown, Makalös was used as a warehouse and later as an arsenal

Arsenal

An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...

 and armoury

Armory (military)

An armory or armoury is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...

 for over a century. When Sweden's reigning aesthete 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....

 decided to reorganise the capital's theatres, it was chosen as the venue for the Royal Dramatic Theatre

Royal Dramatic Theatre

The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....

, an institution that exists to this day. The theatre, then named Nya Dramatiska Teatern, opened in 1793. It was also known as the "arsenal theatre".

Destruction by fire

On 24 November, 1825, a fire broke out during a performance. When a smell of smoke was felt, Actor Lars Hjortsberg

Lars Hjortsberg

Lars Hjortsberg was a Swedish actor. He is often called the greatest male actor in his country in the 19th century; he and Emilie Högquist are the best known Swedish actors from the first half of that century.- Biography :...

, speaking from the stage, informed the audience of this and asked them to leave the building. All spectators were safely evacuated, though three employees died in the fire. The building suffered severe damage and was subsequently torn down. A number of stone sculptures were saved, some of which were incorporated into private mansions, and others ended up in several museums, such as the Nordic Museum

Nordic Museum

The Nordic Museum is a museum located on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the Early Modern age until the contemporary period...

. A number of artifacts are exhibited at the Stockholm Metro

Stockholm Metro

The Stockholm Metro is a metro system in Stockholm, Sweden. The first line opened in 1950, and today the system has 100 stations in use, of which 47 are underground and 53 above ground. There are seven lines numbered from 10 to 19, in three groups identified by a color: the Green, Red and Blue lines...

's Kungsträdgården station, close to the former location of Makalös.