Solliden Palace

The Swedish Solliden Palace - sometimes also called Solids - on the island of Öland is the summer residence of the Swedish royal family.

The Royal Villa

The Solliden castle near Borgholm was built at the behest of Queen Victoria from 1903 to 1906. The queen maintained a close friendship with the doctor and writer Axel Munthe, whose Villa San Michele served on the Italian island of Capri as a model for Solliden. The historicist castle consists only of staggered buildings, which together form an approximately rectangular body with a flat copper roof. The only decorations are the small pillars combined double and triple windows and a loggia on the west and a covered staircase on the east side. The castle was not built for representative purposes, but to serve the Queen is an intimate summer house and country villa.

The castle today

The reigning Swedish King Carl XVI. Gustaf received Solliden already the age of four for an inheritance after his great-grandfather Gustav V died in 1950. The castle is still used today by the royal family and inhabited in the summer months, the heiress Victoria celebrating their birthdays here traditionally. The castle itself is not visible, the gardens, however, is open during the summer months and open to visitors.

The Park

The real attraction of Solliden Palace is the palace gardens. Öland is climatically divided into two zones: During the ridge of the island and the east coast are relatively nutrient-poor and dry, there is on the west side of a very mild climate with low floors. Solliden is located right on the border between these areas, together with its lush gardens. Visitors usually come through the main entrance, which is below a barren steppe landscape and behind the park, with its fountains looks like a green oasis.

The garden area is divided into several different areas. Striking are the dozens of varieties of roses that are cultivated throughout the park. In the immediate vicinity of the villa is the decorated with boxwood hedges and to Ars topiaria "Italian garden ". Here, the palace opposite, you will find the small, overgrown with climbing plants so-called " play house ", which was formerly used by the gardener and his family. From here the path leads to the " English Garden ", is decorated with several large trees and lawns. Below the lying before the castle lawn there is a modern cascade, which gave the royal birthday, the Swedish parliament. The "Dutch Garden " in turn, is a gift from the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina with her ​​friend Victoria, on the occasion of her 60th birthday in 1922. This part of the garden is decorated with marble sculptures and different varieties of roses.

Area

The entrance of a house dating from the building time of Solliden Palace, next to the ticket office and the souvenir shop also hosts regular exhibitions to the castle and its inhabitants.

Above the castle park begins the Öland steppe and in close proximity to Solliden is the mighty castle ruins of Borgholm Castle. The former Renaissance fortress was rebuilt in the 17th century to a Baroque castle, which fell after a fire in the 19th century and now forms a picturesque contrast to the green gardens of Solliden.