Kadriorg Palace

Kadriorg Palace stands at A. Weizenbergi 37 in the Kadriorg district of Tallinn, Estonia, within a landscaped park laid out at the same time. Tsar Peter the Great, who had taken Tallinn (then Reval) from Sweden in 1710 during the Great Northern War, ordered a summer residence built in 1718 and named it Catherinethal, after his wife Catherine, which became Kadriorg in Estonian. The Italian architect Niccolò Michetti designed the palace in the Petrine Baroque style, and construction continued after his departure under Mikhail Zemtsov, with the main building completed in the 1720s. It is a two-storey building with a central hall and wings framing a formal courtyard, and the park behind includes terraces, ponds and avenues. The palace was used as a summer residence by the Russian court for some time, then declined in importance. In the 20th century it was the seat of the Estonian president for a time before the presidential office moved to a purpose-built building next door, and it was used as an art museum in the Soviet period. After a major restoration it reopened in 2000 as the Kadriorg Art Museum, a branch of the Art Museum of Estonia. Its collections focus on foreign art from the 16th to the 20th centuries, with Dutch, Flemish, Italian, German and Russian paintings, as well as sculpture and decorative arts. The Great Hall, with richly stuccoed ceilings and painted decoration, is among the preserved original interiors and is a highlight for architecture visitors. The adjoining Mikkel Museum shows further collections, and the surrounding Kadriorg Park, with the Swan Pond and the Kumu art museum nearby, makes this a favoured half-day excursion east of the Old Town. The palace is reached by tram or a short bus ride from the centre.