Riddarholmen

Top: View from Södermalm.
Above: Panoramic view from the
Left: The Wrangel and Stenbock Palaces.
Below: The Hessenstein Palace.
Bottom: Tower of Birger Jarl and the Riddarholm Church.

Riddarholmen (Swedish: [²rɪdːarˌhɔlmɛn], "The Knights' Islet") is a small islet in central , Sweden. The island forms part of Gamla Stan, the old town, and houses a number of private palaces dating back to the 17th century. The main landmark is the church Riddarholmskyrkan, used as Sweden's royal burial church from the 17th century to 1950, and where a number of earlier Swedish monarchs also lie buried.

The western end of the island gives a magnificent panoramic and photogenic view of the bay Riddarfjärden, often used by TV journalists with in the background. A statue of Birger Jarl, traditionally considered the founder of Stockholm, stands a pillar in front of the Bonde Palace, north of Riddarholm Church.

Other notable buildings include the Old Parliament Building in the south-eastern corner, the Old National Archive on the eastern shore, and the Norstedt Building, the old printing house of the publisher Norstedts, the tower roof of which is a well-known silhouette on the city's skyline.

While the Riddarholm Church dates back to the Middle Ages and is one of Stockholm's oldest buildings, most of the present structures on Riddarholmen were built during the 17th century when the island was an aristocratic setting that gave the islet its present name. Three of the palaces are gathered around the central public square, Birger Jarls Torg centred on the 19th-century statue of Birger Jarl: The Wrangel Palace on the west side, the most impressive, incorporates a medieval defensive tower and a portal designed by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder; the Stenbock and Hessenstein Palaces on the east side are less elaborate. North of the square, the two 19th-century wings of the Palace of Schering Rosenhane reach the rustic main building, which dates from the 17th century.

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Wikipedia