The construction of the Tyresö palace began in the 1620s by the Riksdrots Gabriel Oxenstierna and completed in 1636. He also constructed the nearby Tyresö Church, which was inaugurated with his own burial in 1641.
The palace was inherited by Maria Sofia De la Gardie in 1648, who had married Gustaf Gabrielsson Oxenstierna, nephew of Swedish Regent and Lord High Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. Both her and her husband's family were extremely wealthy. Maria Sofia resided in Tyresö Palace, from where she managed her estates around Baltic Sea.
During 1770s the palace was modernized and the first English garden in Sweden was created. Planned by the garden architect Fredrik Magnus Piper, it is a mixture of an English park, a Swedish flowery meadow and picture out of a fairy tale - with the ancient forest as its ultimate source. The natural-appearing large-scale landscape gardens still exist today.
Today Tyresö Palace is a museum. Marquis Claes Lagergren had purchased Tyresö Palace in 1892. Assisted by architect Isak Gustaf Clason, the Marquis rebuilt the castle, inspired by original drawings from the 17th century. The Marquis wanted the castle kept as a living document of Swedish history. He rebuilt large parts of the castle in a national romantic style. The marquis died in 1930, and in his will left Tyresö Palace to a museum foundation, the Nordic Museum (Nordiska museet). Today the Nordic Museum owns the castle, and it is open for guided tours during the summer.
References:Château de Niort is a medieval castle in the French town of Niort. It consists of two square towers, linked by a 15th-century building and dominates the Sèvre Niortaise valley.
The two donjons are the only remaining part of the castle. The castle was started by Henry II Plantagenet in the 12th century and completed by Richard the Lionheart. It was defended by a rectangular curtain wall and was damaged during the Wars of Religion. In the 18th century, the castle served as a prison.
The present keeps were the central point of a massive fortress. The southern keep is 28m tall, reinforced with turrets. The northern tower is slightly shorter at 23m. Both are flanked with circular turrets at the corners as well as semicircular buttresses. Each of the towers has a spiral staircase serving the upper floors. The Romanesque architecture is of a high quality with the dressed stones closely jointed.