Gävle Castle is a

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

Gävle Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swede ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, rebuilt several times since its foundation in 1583. It is the official residence of the County Governor of

Gävleborg County Gävleborg County ( sv, Gävleborgs län) is a county or '' län'' on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders the counties of Uppsala, Västmanland, Dalarna, Jämtland and Västernorrland. The capital is Gävle. Provinces Gävleborg Cou ...

The first castle

The original castle was built 1583–1593 by the Swedish crown. The

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

was Willem Boy.

Restoration

After several decades of decay, the castle was rebuilt during the 1650s and the 1660s. The castle now became the residence of the governor, and office of the provincial government.

Rebuilding

A severe fire in 1727 destroyed large parts of the castle, and it was left in ruins until 1741 when

Carl Hårleman Baron Carl Hårleman (27 August 1700 – 9 February 1753) was a Swedish architect. Biography Hårleman was born in Stockholm, son of the garden architect and head of the royal parks and gardens Johan Hårleman, who had been ennobled in 1698. ...

was commissioned to rebuild it into a modern residence and government office. The rebuilding was completed in 1754. Castles in Gävleborg County Official residences of Swedish county governors {{Sweden-castle-stub