Rundāle Palace — palace
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Rundāle Palace

  • 1 min read
  • 56.413° N 24.025° E

Interesting facts

  • Duke Ernst Johann von Biron bought the Rundāle estate in 1735 for 42,000 thalers, and construction to Rastrelli's design began on 24 May 1736.
  • Work stopped in 1740 when Biron, briefly regent of the Russian Empire, was overthrown and exiled to Siberia; it resumed only after his return in 1762.
  • After Courland passed to Russia, Catherine the Great gave the palace to Valerian Zubov, younger brother of her favourite Platon Zubov.
  • At a harvest festival ball held here in October 1802, about 1,200 guests are said to have attended.
  • In 1812 the palace served as a hospital for Napoleon's army; soldiers who died there were buried in the park, where a monument now stands.
  • A village school occupied the palace until 1978, and the duke's dining room was turned into the school gym; grain was also stored here after the Second World War.
  • The palace has 138 rooms on two floors, of which 43 were planned to receive restored historic interiors.
  • The first restored rooms opened in 1981, and the restoration from 1972 to 2014 cost an estimated 8.4 million euros.
  • The palace is still used to host visiting heads of state and other notable guests of Latvia.
  • A canal encircles the palace, the formal garden and the stables, and beyond it lies a forested hunting park.

Why it is worth it

Rundāle Palace is the finest Baroque residence in the Baltic States, set in the Semigallia region of southern Latvia. It was designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli for Ernst Johann von Biron, Duke of Courland. Building took place in two campaigns: from 1736 to 1740, and, after a long interruption, from 1764 to 1768; Biron lived there from 1768 to 1772.

The interiors of the second campaign are the palace's glory. Between 1765 and 1768 the Berlin sculptor Johann Michael Graff filled the rooms with stucco, from flowers and fruit to birds, and the Italian painters Francesco Martini and Carlo Zucchi, called from St Petersburg, painted the ceilings. The Gold Hall, the duke's throne room, gleams with gilded stucco over two-coloured artificial marble, and its ceiling shows the apotheosis of Duke Ernst Johann. The White Hall, first planned as a chapel, was turned into a ballroom in the second building period.

Behind the palace lies a French formal garden of parterres and bosquets, part of grounds of more than 85 hectares, with a rose garden of nearly one hectare that traces the history of European roses from the early eighteenth century to the present. After the Russian Empire took over Courland in 1795, the palace passed through many hands and was heavily damaged in 1919; a museum was founded in 1972, and restoration led by Imants Lancmanis was completed in 2015.

Getting there

The palace is at Pilsrundāle, about 12 km west of Bauska; Jelgava is about 33 km away. Riga International Airport (RIX) is about 57 km away.

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From the encyclopaedia

Rundāle Palace is one of the two major baroque palaces built for the Dukes of Courland in what is now Latvia, the other being Jelgava Palace. The palace was built in two periods, from 1736 until 1740 and from 1764 until 1768. It is situated at Pilsrundāle, in Rundāle Parish, Bauska Municipality in the Semigallia region, 12 km west of Bauska.

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56.41330, 24.02483per Wikidata