Kadriorg Palace

Kadriorg Palace at A. Weizenbergi 37 was commissioned by Tsar Peter the Great after Russia captured Reval from Sweden during the Great Northern War. Construction began in 1718 to designs by the Italian architect Niccolo Michetti, with later work by Mikhail Zemtsov, and the complex was named Ekaterinenthal, or Catherine's Valley (Kadriorg in Estonian), after the Tsar's wife Catherine. It is the finest example of Petrine Baroque in Estonia, with a pink and white façade, a two-storey main hall and a formal park planned on a symmetrical axis. The palace was used by the Russian imperial family as a summer residence and for ceremonial visits, and Peter himself stayed only briefly in a small house nearby that is now a museum. After Estonian independence in 1918 the palace was used for various public purposes, and from 1921 it served as a state art museum. The Soviet period saw the building used by institutions, and the palace was heavily damaged and later restored. Following the restoration of independence it was renovated again, reopening in 2000 as the Kadriorg Art Museum, a branch of the Art Museum of Estonia. The collections include Dutch, Flemish, German, Italian and Russian paintings from the 16th to 18th centuries, along with sculpture, porcelain, silver and decorative arts. Highlights of the interior are the Great Hall with stucco ceiling by Italian craftsmen, and period rooms displaying furniture and tapestries. The building was set within the Kadriorg park, which includes swan pond, rose garden and the neighbouring presidential palace, built in 1938. The museum organises its displays by period and national school, giving a chronological introduction to European art. The palace is easy to reach by tram from the Old Town and is a calm, green contrast with the medieval centre.