The Boat to Skokloster Castle

Because I apparently don't know how to take a day off (except today; I finally put my foot down today), yesterday I wrangled up a crew to accompany me on a boat cruise to Skokloster Castle, about an hour and forty minutes down river from Uppsala. Beer in hand, I admired the passing countryside, the lake houses and the lily pads, which spun and dipped beneath the water in the wake of the boat's engine. There was bright sun, so of course I got a little sunburned.

The M/S Kungen Carl Gustav is a boat with historic origins. Though now a modern vessel with modern engines, it has been afloat since the 19th c, with a smokestack for proof.

After a peaceful journey down the river and then across Lake Mälaren, the boat made dock in the historic, 17th c harbor of Skokloster, once the home of the Wrangel family. Built between 1654 and 1676 for Count Carl Gustaf Wrangel, a hero of the Thirty Years War, the castle is the largest ever owned by a private family in Sweden, and is considered one of the most important baroque castles in Europe. It is a rectilinear design around a central courtyard, with a hexagonal tower at each of the four corners. Originally, it was constructed to be approached by water, so the front faces the lake! This made a boat trip ideal.

At the family's church, originally a 13th c convent, we were greeted and immediately given a tour by a friendly docent, who told us some of the history of the family, explained the presence of their heraldry (adorned with four helms rather than three, even though only king's usually had this honor), and even showed us how to peep into the crypt to see the 24 coffins stowed there, all contained members of the Wrangel family.

Inside, we toured the bedrooms on the first floor and the small museum on the ground floor. I was particularly impressed (and sort of disgusted) by the 17th c gilded and hand painted leather wallpaper on the walls.

A 17th c dried puffer fish, expanded with hay and imported from distant lands 

17th c leather wallpaper 

There was also a very famous painting there, which I hadn't expected to see! Guiseppe Arcimboldo's Vertumnus, The God of Seasons, 1590-1591, a portrait made of fruits which bears the features of the Emperor Rudolf II.

And then a peaceful voyage back to Uppsala!