Rundāle Palace Museum
Baroque summer residence by Rastrelli, with restored state rooms and a formal French garden.
Rundāle was built as the summer residence of Ernst Johann von Biron, Duke of Courland and Semigallia, to designs by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the architect of the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. Work ran from 1736 to 1740, stopped when Biron was exiled to Siberia, and resumed between 1764 and 1768 after his return. The Berlin sculptor Johann Michael Graff created the rococo stucco decoration, while Francesco Martini and Carlo Zucchi painted the ceilings.
After the duchy was absorbed by Russia the palace passed through several owners and was damaged in the First World War and afterwards. Restoration began in 1972 under Imants Lancmanis and continued for more than forty years, recovering the Gold Hall, the White Hall, the Great Gallery and the ducal apartments. Around forty rooms are open, together with a decorative arts display covering the Gothic period to art nouveau. The formal French garden, laid out to Rastrelli's plan, includes a rose garden with thousands of varieties.
Highlights
- Gold Hall, White Hall and Great Gallery with Graff's rococo stucco
- Restored ducal apartments furnished in 18th-century style
- French garden to Rastrelli's plan, with a large rose collection
- Decorative arts display from the Gothic period to art nouveau
![Afrique occidentale française : Cathédrale à St Louis / [photogr. Eugène] Gallois ; [photogr. reprod. par Radiguet et Massiot pour la conférence donnée par] Gallois](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Afrique_occidentale_fran%C3%A7aise_-_Cath%C3%A9drale_%C3%A0_St_Louis_-_%28photogr._Eug%C3%A8ne%29_Gallois_%3B_%28photogr._reprod._par_Radiguet_et_Massiot_pour_la_conf%C3%A9rence_donn%C3%A9e_par%29_Gallois_-_btv1b532798828.jpg/500px-thumbnail.jpg)
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![Théâtre de la guerre dans l'Inde sur la coste de Coromandel / par M.B.C.T. [Monsieur Bourcet Capitaine ?] ; gravé par Croisey](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg/500px-Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg)
