Kadrioru Palace and park located just 2km from Tallinn city center is no doubt one of Estonian Baroque masterpieces. Even though it was built by Russian Emperor Peter I (his more known creation being St. Petersburg city) to celebrate the surrender of Tallinn to Russian troops in 1710, nowadays everyone forgot about Emperor's ambitions and just enjoy the park as one of favorite spots for leisurely strolls for locals and tourists alike.
The park was laid out by Italian architects brought from Rome. The choice of location could not have been better: the palace gave views to Tallinn Old City, harbor and above all - the sea. It is well known that the Russian Emperor had weakness for the sea so it definitely was not a coincidence.
Ironically, even though it was Peter's original intention was to create a park where the citizens of Tallinn could spend their free time, this did not come true during his time. The citizens of Tallinn we were too well aware of Emperor's tough character and were simply afraid to walk around his palace.
As the park & palace were intended for Peter's wife - Catherine I of Russia - it was aptly called Catherinethal - "Catherine's valley" (similarly as Count Orlov-Davydov's palace was called Maarjamäe - Marie's hill). In the 20th century Estonian version of the name - Kadriorg (meaning exactly the same, "Catherine's valley" in Estonian) - became widespread and even gave name to the surrounding district of the city.
Unfortunately the Palace was not finished during Peter's time and was used as Russian Tsar's residence pretty seldom - only for Emperor's visits to Tallinn. But it housed literally all Russian Emperor's starting from Peter and all the way through the last Emperor Nicholas II.
In 1919 the Palace started a new life - as a museum housing more than the collection of Classic art consisting 900 paintings and 3,000 sculptures. Modern piece are exhibited in nearby KUMU (KUnsti MUseum) located in the same park.
If you want to visit a little less visited area of Tallinn - come over to Kadriorg!
And of course any questions about Tallinn and Estonia are welcome. More to follow!
Read about another not so frequently used monument - Pirita Convent here.
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