Rundalės pilis \ Castle Rundale
Rundāle Palace, one of the most outstanding monuments of Baroque and Rococo architecture in Latvia, was built between 1736 and 1740 as a summer residence for Ernst Johann Biron, Duke of Courland and a favourite of the Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna. The Palace was designed by the Russian court architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli and built under his supervision.
Most of the interior decorations were created between 1765 and 1768 when Johann Michael Graff, a master of decorative sculpture from Berlin, and Francesco Martini and Carlo Zucchi, two Italian painters from St. Petersburg, worked in Rundāle.
At present, there are 50 rooms from 138 of the Palace open to the public as well as the French formal garden.
Jul 3, 2010
Photos: 27
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