City of the day: Stockholm

Today we're visiting Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. Here are the three highlights:

1) The Stockholm Palace 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 palace is used for representative purposes by the King whilst performing his duties as the head of state.

2) Gröna Lund is an amusement park located on the island of Djurgården. The Amusement park has over 30 attractions and many restaurants. It is a popular tourist attraction and visited by thousands of people every day. It is open from end of April to middle of September, and it also opens during Christmas for market. Gröna Lund also serves as a concert venue. it also has a large veriety of things to do for people of all ages and it has some beautiful sights from some of the rides.

3) The Riddarholmen Church is the burial church of the Swedish monarchs. It is located on the island of Riddarholmen, close to the Royal Palace in Stockholm. It is one of the oldest buildings in Stockholm, parts of it dating to the late 13th century, when it was built as a greyfriars monastery. After the Protestant Reformation, the monastery was closed and the building transformed into a Protestant church. Coats of arms of knights of the Order of the Seraphim are in the walls of the church. When a knight of the Order dies, his coat of arms is hung in the church and when the funeral takes place the church bells are rung constantly from 12:00 to 13:00.

This is part 35 out of a series of 50. Next city tomorrow: Brisbane.