The Stockholm Palace (Swedish: Stockholms slott) is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. (The private residence of the royal family is Drottningholm Palace). Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen ("city island"), in Gamla Stan (the old town) in the capital, Stockholm. It neighbours the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament.
The offices of the monarch (King Carl XVI Gustaf) and the other members of the Swedish Royal Family as well as the offices of the Royal Court of Sweden are located there. The palace is used for representative purposes by the King whilst performing his duties as the head of state.
The southern façade is facing the grand-style slope Slottsbacken; the eastern façade is bordering Skeppsbron, an impressive quay passing along the eastern waterfront of the old town; on the northern front is Lejonbacken, a system of ramps named after the sculpted lions on the stone railings; and the western wings border the open space Högvaktsterrassen.
The palace is built of brick, with midsections of the west, south, and east façades covered by sandstone. The roof slopes slightly inwards. The roof is covered with copper and is surrounded by a stone balustrade which stretched around the entire main building.
The palace has 609 rooms and is one of the largest royal palaces in the world still in use for its original purpose. The palace consists of four rows: western, southern, eastern, and northern. The southern façade represents the nation, the west façade represents the king, the east façade represents the queen, and the northern façade represents the common royal. From west to east the palace façade is 115 m (without wings); from north to south the palace façade is 120 m. These four rows surround the inner courtyard.
