Läckö Castle
Encyclopedia
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
in 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....
. Läckö Castle is best known as Magnus de la Gardie's magnificent castle on the shores of Lake Vänern, the largest lake in Sweden.
Brynolf Algotsson, Bishop of Skara
Skara
Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18595 inhabitants in 2005. Despite its small size, it has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. One of Sweden's oldest high schools, Katedralskolan , is situated in Skara...
, laid the foundations for a fortified castle in 1298 originally as a fort that consisted of two or three houses surrounded by a wall. After a fire during the 1470s, the fort was expanded by bishop Brynolf Gerlachsson.
After the reformation in 1527, King Gustav Vasa took possession. Field Marshal Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie was granted the property in 1615. Field Marshal de la Gardie embarked on an extensive building spree, including the third floor of the keep. The portal to the main courtyard was added during his period, as were the frescos depicting people and winding plants found in niches, stairwells and the rooms on the third floor. In 1654, Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie
Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie
Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of the Realm, namely Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High...
initiated immense construction projects at Läckö. A fourth floor was built in the main building and a number of artists were hired to decorate the walls and ceilings of the castle.
Läckö Castle is a national monument and has been managed by the National Property Board since 1993. The National Property Board (Swedish: Statens fastighetsverk), the Foundation of Läckö Castle (Swedish: Stiftelsen Läckö Slott) and the National Museum of Fine Arts (Swedish: Nationalmuseum) work together to maintain and furnish the castle in the style of the Baroque period. Läckö Castle is located on the Kållandsö
Kållandsö
Kållandsö is an island in lake Vänern in Sweden. With an area of 56.78 km ² it is the second largest island in the lake after Torsö. It is the northernmost part of the municipality of Lidköping. Kållandsö and the surrounding archipelago has about 1,100 inhabitants.Because of its location and its...
island. The Castle is situated 25 kilometers north of Lidköping
Lidköping
Lidköping is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 27,941 inhabitants in 2005.It is neatly situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidköping by Vänern", possibly to distinguish itself from Linköping near...
in Västergötland
Västergötland
', English exonym: West Gothland, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....
.
Sources
- The Splendour of The Baroque. Läcko Castle, A Nobleman’s Home in Sweden’s Age of Greatness (Lars Sjöberg and Anneli Welin. Stockholm: National Museum of Fine Arts. Text in Swedish. 2001) ISBN 91-7100-643-5