Sigtuna - Skokloster Castle

10km/6mi northwest of Sigtuna as the crow flies, but accessible only from the Stockholm- Enköping road (E 18), stands Skokloster Castle, on the Skofjärd. As its name indicates, the castle was originally a monastery, founded by Cistercians in 1244. In 1574, however, the monastery was pulled down, with the exception of the church, and in 1611 the estate passed into the hands of Field Marshal Herman Wrangel, whose son Karl Gustav, Count of Salamis, was born in Skokloster in 1613. Karl Gustav Wrangel, later Grand Admiral and Grand Marshal of Sweden, built the present castle in 1654-57. The architect was first de la Vallée and later Nicodemus Tessin the Elder.

The castle, in Baroque style, is brick-built, laid out on a square ground-plan around a central courtyard, with octagonal towers at the corners. The richly decorated interior, with stucco ornament wall and ceiling paintings, is well preserved. It contains a collection of pictures and of arms and armor; among items of special interest are the ceremonial shield of the Emperor Charles V (probably made in Augsburg), a sword which belonged to the Hussite leader Jan Ziska and the executioner's sword used in the "Linköping massacre".