The Islet of the Knights
Riddarholmen (the Islet of Knights), together with the Old Town, constitutes Stockholm's historic centre. In 1270, the Greyfriars Monastery (Gråmunkeklostret) was settled on the islet. Parts of it are preserved around the Riddarholm’s Church.
With the beginning of the Swedish great power era around the 1620s, the inhabitants disappeared from the island, smaller farms were demolished, and the land was divided up into substantial plots. The Crown donated them to nobles who distinguished themselves in the wars or in the administration and they built own palaces. When the nobility moved to the island, they began to say the Islet of the Knights and the Riddarholmen’s Church.
After the castle Three Crown burned down in 1697, the noble's palaces were gradually taken over by the Swedish government agencies, which still dominate the islet. In fact, the former publishing house Norstedts is today the only property on the islet that is not owned by the National Property Board of Sweden.
The islet is very quiet: no residents live here anymore, and no shops exist. On the opposite side of the bridge to the islet, you'll see lovely sunsets over the lake Mälaren (one of the biggest lakes in Sweden and the name means coarse gravel). Bring a picknick...
Riddarholmskyrkan (the R. Church)
Stockholm's skyline includes the eye-catching Riddarholm's Church. It’s one of Stockholm's oldest preserved buildings.
The Church is built on the Greyfriars Monastery and Church, which was consecrated around 1292, when the King Magnus Ladulås was buried here. The Monastery belonged to the Franciscan Order. The King had donated funds for it's start in 1270. The Monastery was closed in 1527 by Gustav Vasa's Protestant Reformation. The building became a Lutheran church. The congregation was dissolved in 1807.
Most of the Church is a Northern European Gothic style, but the Baroque style is also represented. The Swedish monarchs from Gustav II Adolf (d. 1632) to Gustaf V (d. 1950) are entombed here. Thereafter, the Royal Cemetery in the Haga Park (close to Stockholm) has been used (not public). Though, Queen Kristina (d. 1689) is buried within St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
The Church is open as a museum during the summer months, as well as for concerts, and special events. The only regular services held is the Christmas Mass arranged by the Stockholm Scout District since 1937.
Wrangelska palatset (the Wrangel Palace)
The Wrangel Palace is located on the west side of Riddarholmen at Birger Jarls torg 16. The southern round tower is from Gustav Vasa's fortifications from the 1530s. The Privy Councillor Lars Eriksson Sparre was granted the plot by the Crown in 1629, and had a stone house built.
In 1648, Queen Kristina bought the palace as a gift to her field marshal Carl Gustaf Wrangel as a thank you for his exploits in the Thirty Years' War. He converted the building to a stately palace 1652–1670 with the help of the architects Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the French-Swedish Jean de la Vallée . It was the largest private residence of the time. In 1693, it burned and lost its façade decoration.
When the castle Tre Kronor burned down in 1697, the architect Tessin the Younger renovated the Wrangel Palace so that the royal family could live there until the current Royal Palace was ready for occupancy in 1754. During these 57 years, the name of the building was the King's House.
The Svea Court of Appeal moved into the building in 1756. It was here that the King Gustav III's murderer Jacob Johan Anckarström was sentenced to death in 1792, and the dungeon where he was imprisoned is still there untouched.
Gamla riksarkivet (the Old National Archives)
The National Archives is one of Sweden's oldest government agencies, with roots in the 1200s. In 1618, Lord High Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna established it formally. And it grew out of the various archives set up by central government in Stockholm over the centuries.
When the castle Three Crowns burned down in 1697, a large part of the documents of the Archives were lost. Therefore, the Archives building (on street Arkivgatan 3) had to be as fireproof as possible. Non-combustible materials such as stone, concrete, brick, and cast iron were used. Only the shelves of the archive were made of wood.
The fear of fire also meant that electricity was initially not drawn into the archive. Thus, the windows were made large to be able to take advantage of the daylight. But relatively soon, electric light needed to be introduced in the premises.
The documents in the Archive quickly swelled. While waiting for a new solution, very few changes were made in the building. Time seems to have stood still here since 1891. Only the spiral slide, or book slide, that runs through all floors was added during the Second World War to transport documents quickly outside Stockholm.
In 1968, the National Archives moved to a new main building on the islet Kungsholmen. You can only visit the beautiful old building by booking a Christmas Table.
The Old House of the Riksdag (parliament)
Parts of the basement in old Riksdag (parliament) building (street Birger Jarls torg 5) comes from the Greyfriars Monastery, which the Franciscan order established in the 13th century. The original room division is still there.
The building had many different functions – such as a children's house, Stockholm's first prison and a mint – after King Gustav Vasa's reformation in 1527. In 1666, the building was extensively rebuilt into a private palace for the governor and baron Bengt Horn. It became public owned in 1794 when the National Debt Office took over.
In 1834, the building became the House of the Riksdag of the Estates, where the clergy, burghers and peasant Estates were located. Previously, the three Estates had met in different places in the Old Town. The fourth Estate – the nobility – had its own house. All Estates met in the so-called plenum plenorum in the Hall of State at the Royal Palace until 1866.
In 1866, the bicameral parliament (first and second chamber) was established to mirror the changes in the society. They used the building until 1905. The Swedish architect Johan Fredrik Åbom adapted the building for them. The architect Aron Johansson designed an additional section in National Romantic style in 1911.
Today, the Administrative Court of Appeal in Stockholm uses the Old Parliament House.