Rundale Palace

Rundale is the grandest baroque palace in Latvia, built by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the architect of St Petersburg's Winter Palace, for the Duke of Courland. Its restored state rooms, gilded ballroom and enormous formal French garden make it the country's most complete aristocratic set-piece.

History

In 1735 Duke Ernst Johann von Biron bought land at Rundāle with an old medieval castle for a summer residence, and building to Bartolomeo Rastrelli's design began in 1736, slowly, since materials went to Jelgava Palace. After Courland passed to the Russian Empire in 1795, Catherine the Great gave the palace to Count Valerian Zubov (Wikipedia, Rundāle Palace).

What's there

• The state rooms - restored baroque and rococo interiors, including the Gold and White ballrooms.
• The French garden - a vast formal parterre of clipped hedges and geometric beds.
• The rose garden - thousands of roses that peak in high summer, the reason many people come.
• The palace itself - Rastrelli's long baroque range seen across the reflecting canals.

When to go

High summer for the rose garden at its peak and the parterre in full colour; the interiors are worthwhile year-round. Weekday mornings avoid the coach tours.

Things to know

The gardens are a separate ticket and are the highlight in summer, so budget for both. It is out on the flat plain with little else immediately around, so most people come as a half-day trip from Riga. The rose season is short; outside it the beds are quieter.

Nearby

Bauska Castle sits on its river spur a short drive east; Mezotne Palace, a white classical mansion, faces Rundale across the fields.

Key facts