The King´s Palace
The King´s palace is a royal palace which was built around 1250. The first preserved letter from this palace was written in 1268. The palace is the oldest and best preserved profane (not belonging to the church) brick building in Sweden. The house had two floors with rooms for the royal family, halls for representation and a chapel. There were no stairs inside, only on the outside.
    On the first of May 1346 the king Magnus Eriksson and his queen Blanche wrote their will in the city of Lodose.The king and the queen donated the palace to the building of Birgitta´s abbey. In 1384 the abbey was consecrated and the King´s palace became a part of the nunnery. The palace was changed a lot, among other things the height of the roof was lowered.
    The nuns lived in the palace until 1595. In the seventeenth century the palace was changed into a soldiers´ home, where war veterans could live. During a period in the nineteenth century the building was used as a prison and then a mental hospital called Birgitta´s hospital moved in.
    In the 1950´s the hospital got new localities and the King´s palace was restored. Today the building belongs to the Abbey hotel. The tourist department in Vadstena arranges guided tours.