Tyresö castle
Encyclopedia
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...
from the 17th century in Tyresö, Stockholm County
Stockholm County
Stockholm County is a county or län on the Baltic sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Stockholm County is divided by the historic provinces of Uppland and Södermanland...
, 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....
, about 25 km south-east of central 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...
.
The construction of the palace began in the 1620s by the Lord High Steward (Swedish: riksdrots) Gabriel Oxenstierna
Gabriel Oxenstierna
Baron Gabriel Gustafsson Oxenstierna was a Swedish statesman.Born either in Tyresö, Sweden, or in Reval , he was the son of Privy Councillor Gustaf Gabrielsson Oxenstierna and Barbro Axelsdotter Bielke...
. The palace was completed in 1636. He also constructed the nearby Tyresö Church
Tyresö church
Tyresö church is a 17th century church in Tyresö, Sweden, belonging to the Tyresö parish. The church is located near Tyresö Palace, which was built during the same era....
(Swedish:Tyresö kyrka), which was inaugurated with his own burial in 1641.
The palace was inherited by Maria Sofia De la Gardie
Maria Sofia De la Gardie
Maria Sofia De la Gardie, as married Oxenstierna of Croneborg , was a Swedish noble and entrepreneur. She has been called the first female grand entrepreneur of her country.-Biography:...
in 1648, who had married Gustaf Gabrielsson Oxenstierna, nephew of Swedish Regent and Lord High Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre , Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of first Gustavus Adolphus and then Queen Christina.Oxenstierna...
. Both her and her husband's family were extremely wealthy. Maria Sofia resided in Tyresö Palace, from where she managed her estates around Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
.
During 1770s the palace was modernized and the first English garden
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
in Sweden was created. Planned by the garden architect Fredrik Magnus Piper, it is a mixture of an English park, a Swedish flowery meadow and picture out of a fairy tale - with the ancient forest as its ultimate source. The natural-appearing large-scale landscape gardens still exist today.
Today Tyresö Palace is a museum. Marquis
Marquis
Marquis is a French and Scottish title of nobility. The English equivalent is Marquess, while in German, it is Markgraf.It may also refer to:Persons:...
Claes Lagergren had purchased Tyresö Palace in 1892. Assisted by architect Isak Gustaf Clason, the Marquis rebuilt the castle, inspired by original drawings from the 17th century. The Marquis wanted the castle kept as a living document of Swedish history. He rebuilt large parts of the castle in a national romantic style. The marquis died in 1930, and in his will left Tyresö Palace to a museum foundation, 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...
(Swedish: Nordiska museet). Today the Nordic Museum owns the castle, and it is open for guided tours during the summer.