Riddarholm Church, Stockholm

Stockholm's oldest preserved building

Riddarholm Church dates from around 1300 and is the oldest preserved building of the original city of Stockholm, with the oldest brick walls to be found above ground. In the Middle Ages it was known as Gråbrödrakyrkan (Greyfriars church) and belonged to the Franciscans. The monastery's patron, king Magnus Ladulås is buried in the chancel.

The original narrow gothic church can still be made out between the vaults, which were added later. The tower was added in the sixteenth century. The steeple was destroyed in a fire in 1835 and was replaced by the neo-Gothic cast-iron steeple, designed by Erik Gustaf Göthe.

The Franciscan monastery was closed in the Reformation in 1527 and the church became protestant. When the nobility moved to the area in the seventeenth century, the island came to be known as Riddarholm (Knights' island) and the church Riddarholm Church.

Royal burials since 1634

Riddarholm Church became the royal burial church when Gustav II Adolf was buried there in 1634. Seventeen Swedish monarchs and their families are buried in the vaults and tombs. The upper and lower vaults contain the remains of all Sweden's monarchs from Gustav II Adolf to the present day. The exceptions are Queen Christina, who was buried in Rome, and Gustav VI Adolf, who was interred at Haga.

Soldiers from the Thirty Years War are also buried here. The floor of the church is covered with gravestones and the walls with the coats of arms, three deep, of the Knights of the Order of the Seraphim. The church no longer holds normal services.

The king has right of disposal over the church.