Läckö Castle
The portal to the main courtyard was added during his period, as were the frescos depicting people and winding plants found in niches, stairwells and the rooms on the third floor. In 1654, his son Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (1622–1686) initiated major construction projects at Läckö. A fourth floor was built in the main building and a number of artists were hired to decorate the walls and ceilings of the castle. He also build the beautiful castle chaple. It is largely Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie’s castle we experience today when we visit Läckö, even though the Middle Ages are always present.
Läckö Castle is a national monument and has been managed by the National Property Board since 1993. The area around Läckö Castle is a part of Unesco’s Biosphere Reserve Vänerskärgården with Kinnekulle and the table mountain landscape.
Visit Läckö Castle website
Läckö Castle is best known as De la Gardie’s magnificent baroque mansion on the shores of Lake Vänern, but it is much older. Brynolf Algotsson, Bishop of the Diocese of Skara, laid the foundations for a fortified castle in 1298 originally as a fort that consisted of two or three houses surrounded by a wall. After a fire during the 1470s, the fort was expanded by Bishop Brynolf Gerlachsson (1458-1505).
Following the Reformation in 1527, the castle was confiscated from the church and King Gustav Vasa took possession. Field Marshal Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie (1583–1652) was granted the property in 1615.
He embarked on an extensive building spree, including the third floor of the keep.
