Kadriorg Palace and Park, Tallinn

Kadriorg Palace and Park, Tallinn

The Kadriorg Palace is an 18th century Petrine Baroque palace built for Catherine I of Russia by Tsar Peter the Great as a summer residence after his conquest of Tallinn in the Great Northern War.

The Kadriorg Palace is an 18th century Petrine Baroque palace built for Catherine I of Russia by Tsar Peter the Great as a summer residence after his conquest of Tallinn in the Great Northern War. Set amidst 70 hectares of breathtaking gardens with fountains and flower-beds, the palace is one of the grandest buildings in Estonia. Today it houses the Mikkel Museum, a branch of the Art Museum of Estonia, displaying foreign art from the 16th to 20th centuries. The grounds of the park are also home to the KUMU branch of the museum, showing Estonian art from the 18th century onwards.

The main building of the Kadriorg Palace comprises a central part and 2 connected wings in a symmetrical plan, inspired by Italian palaces. The 2-storey whitewashed main hall, often referred to as the 'Baroque Pearl of the North', is decadently decorated with elaborate stucco work and pilasters with Corinthian capitals. The architraves feature reliefs of angels flanking plaques with the letters 'P' and 'E' for Peter and Ekaterina (Catherine). The ceiling features a painting depicting Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' in which the hunter Actaeon runs into Diana and the nymphs bathing, and is turned into a stag as punishment. In the 1930s, the palace was the residence of the Head of State of Estonia, and expanded to add a Neo-Baroque banquet hall, dining room, and orangery.

The surrounding park is one of the most popular places for a stroll in the city, with a Japanese garden, Swan Pond, flower-beds, and a promenade that leads to the Presidential Palace.