Palace of Bonde

The Bonde Palace (Swedish: Bondeska palatset) is a palace in Gamla stan, the old town in central , Sweden. Located between the House of Knights (Riddarhuset) and the Chancellery House (Kanslihuset), it is, arguably, the most prominent monument of the era of the Swedish Empire (1611–1718), originally design by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and Jean De la Vallée in 1662-1667 as the private residence of the Lord High Treasurer Gustaf Bonde (1620–1667) it still bears his name, while it accommodated the from the 18th century and since 1949 houses the Swedish Supreme Court. On the south side of the building is the street Myntgatan and the square Riddarhustorget, while the alleys Riddarhusgränd and Rådhusgränd are passing on its western and eastern sides.

The original design by Simon de la Vallée and Tessin the Younger, based on French Baroque and Renaissance prototypes, was H-shaped in plan, the planned two southern wings flanking a main court, while the northern wings surrounded a small Baroque garden. The central building was covered by a tall steep-pitched, copper-dressed roof surrounded by the cupolas of the corner pavilions, while the façades were decorated with Ionic pilasters, festoons and portraits of Roman Emperors. The Reduction in 1680 (e.g. the Crown recapturing lands earlier granted the nobility) dramatically reduced the financial power of the Bonde dynasty, and therefore, following the devastating fire of the royal palace Tre Kronor in 1697, the Royal Library and the Svea Court of Appeal were lodged in the Bonde palace. The original elaborated roof was destroyed in a fire in 1710, the original cupolas, however, are still preserved on the northern wings. In 1730, the palace was finally bought by the city in order to relocate the Town Hall from the central square , thus definitively ending the buildings history as a private palace.

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