Haga Palace Ruins

The project, involving no fewer than six architects, was designed to create a magnificent palace where the king could retreat for leisure and display his prized collection of antique Roman statues.

Today, the only surviving elements of this grand vision are the cellar foundations, partially concealed on a hill in Haga Park.

The site, long a hidden gem, has become a favoured spot for locals who climb the central column or gather around small fires, surrounded by the thick, weathered stone walls.

[2] The French-inspired style and the caution that characterized contemporary Swedish Rococo drew heavily on Late Baroque features.

Instead, the city architect Erik Palmstedt was consulted for the royal building in the newly purchased Brahelund area.

[6] After the foundation stone ceremony, with music and poetry by Carl Michael Bellman on 19 August 1786,[7] Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, who was present at the ceremony, wrote in her diary: While this [Gustav III] laid the first stone, in which, according to custom, several coins were placed; on it was also engraved a Latin inscription declaring that it was in memory of the king on this day returning freedom to his people, laying the foundation for this new castle, a home for freedom, pleasure, and joy.

Only after the project had been underway for some time did Gustav III, who was deeply interested in architecture, personally become involved with the design, adding wings to the sides of the building with long rows of 70 Corinthian columns.

The palace was to house an art museum, where the king wanted to display his collection of ancient sculptures and paintings he had brought back from Italy and France.

[9] Once again, Gustav III began to doubt the architect's proposal, and in 1787, the project was handed over to Louis Jean Desprez.

[15] According to Gustav III's estate inventory, there were also large quantities of unused finely hewn stone intended for the building's plinths and moldings, which were likely used in the construction of the Queen's Pavilion (Haga Palace) ten years after the king's death.

The only part of the planned palace completed after Gustav III's death was a highly detailed wooden model, along with a few sketches and drawings.

[16] Through a peephole on the side of the model and a mirror system, visitors can even look into the palace's dome as envisioned by architect Desprez.

Between 1998 and 1999, palace architect Erik Langlet led another extensive restoration, during which holes in the masonry were patched, and fallen stone blocks were remortared in place.

In 2007, these measurements were featured in an exhibition at the park museum, focusing on the history and future of the Great Haga Palace foundation.