Steninge Palace is a Baroque

Baroque architecture

Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...

 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...

 overlooking Lake Mälaren

Mälaren

Lake Mälaren is the third-largest lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Its area is 1,140 km² and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from east to west...

 near Märsta

Märsta

Märsta is a suburb of Metropolitan Stockholm, a locality and the seat of Sigtuna Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 23,416 inhabitants in 2008. The town is situated close to Stockholms main international airport, Arlanda. Even if its origins go back to around 500 AD Märsta is a wide spread...

 outside 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...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

.

Built 1694-1698 to the design of architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger

Nicodemus Tessin the Younger

Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator.The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle-most generation of the brief Tessin dynasty, which have had a lasting influence on...

, the palace is directly inspired by Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte

Vaux-le-Vicomte

The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte is a baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, 55 km southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne département of France...

 in France, and has a reputation in Sweden as one of the most elegant examples of Baroque mansions. Steninge Palace was completed in 1705.

The estate has a history dating back to the 13th century and has seen many owners, but two families have strongly influenced the premises: those of Carl Gyllenstierna (1649-1735) and Axel von Fersen

Axel von Fersen

Lieutenant General Count Hans Axel von Fersen was a Swedish Count, a Lieutenant General in the Royal Swedish Army, one of the Lords of the Realm, diplomat and statesman...

.

Today the palace is privately owned by a company which keeps it accessible for visitors: Steninge Palace Cultural Centre.

A short summary of the Palace history: In the end of 1200 the first known settlement was established at Steninge. In 1667 Carl Gyllenstierna inherits the Steninge Estate. 1680-81 the well known swedish architect Nocodemus Tessin was commisioned to design the palace and the two wings. In 1705 Steninge Palace was completed. In 1706 Carl Gyllenstierna marries and gives Steninge Palace as a wedding gift to his bride, Anna Soop. In 1735 the Fersen family buys Steninge. In 1747 Steninge was made a trust. In 1810 Axel von Fersen was murdered. A monument of Fersen was erected at Steninge in 1813. In 1873 Baron von Otter buys Steninge and a stone barn was built west of the palace. In 1970 G.B.A. Holm buys Steninge and employs the architect I.G. Clason to carry out a restoration work. In 1923 Mrs Hanna Lindmark buys Steninge Palace. In 1932 Steninge Palace is bought by Wolfgang Thomas, son of the US ambassador in Sweden. In 1969 Steninge Palace is declared a listed building. In 1976 a family with the common name Andersson bought Steninge. In 1979 the large stone barn is declared a listed building. In 1997 Linn and Atle Brynestad (CG Holding) buys Steninge. In 1999 the Steninge Palace Cultural centre opens. In 2009 Steninge Palace and the stone barn are bought by Gelba fastigheter.