Arvfurstens palats

Look for the grand rectangular palace featuring a rust-red ground level, pale yellow upper floors divided by tall white Corinthian columns topped with carved leaves, and an ornate sculpted coat of arms crowning the roof. This is The Hereditary Prince's Palace. What you are looking at is a masterclass in architectural recycling.

Back in 1783, Princess Sofia Albertina, the sister of King Gustav III, bought the property that stood right here. At the time, it was the Torstenson Palace, a seventeenth century building that had survived a massive fire and years of neglect. But the Princess did not just tear it down. Instead, architects Erik Palmstedt and Louis Masreliez incorporated the old palace into a massive new complex. If you walk around the side later, you can still see the original 1650s structure hidden in plain sight as one of the wings.

The king actually ordered this new palace to perfectly mirror the Royal Opera House on the other side of the square. They wanted absolute symmetry. The design is spectacular. Take a look all the way up to the roofline. That decorative top section resting above the columns is called an attica, and it is guarded by two Gotland limestone lions flanking the royal coat of arms, sculpted by the famous artist Tobias Sergel.

Inside, the palace is just as breathtaking. Take a look at your screen to see the Red Salon, originally the Princess's audience room where she received guests from a throne. You can still see the royal crowns and the Swedish coat of arms carved into the walls by Jean Baptiste Masreliez. Today, this opulent space serves as a waiting room for the Foreign Minister.

When Princess Sofia Albertina died in 1829, she left the palace as a fideikommiss, a strict legal arrangement meaning the property could only be passed down intact to the Hereditary Prince, the royal next in line after the Crown Prince. Several royals lived here over the decades. But in 1902, the Swedish state bought the whole property for 2.25 million kronor, which is roughly 150 million kronor today. By 1906, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs moved in, and they have been here ever since. While the elegant neoclassical facade of the palace has been impeccably preserved over 130 years, the surrounding square has evolved to match its modern role as the seat of Swedish diplomacy. Check out the before and after image on your app to see the transformation.

It is amazing to think that inside these walls, beneath the reconstructed silk curtains and next to antique writing desks originally gifted by Marie Antoinette, the modern geopolitical strategies of Sweden are actively being shaped.

Let's continue on when you are ready.