Kadriorg Palace and Park, Tallinn, Estonia

(1) Kadriorg Palace, today Kadriorg Art Museum.

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(5) The back side of the palace with the garden.

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(10) The Presidential Palace can be seen in the background.

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(12) Interior.

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(17) The Presidential Palace.

(18) Peter The Great House Museum.

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(20) The Russalka monument - a sculpture of an angel facing the sea - is a memorial to the military ship Russalka which sunk in 1893. The sun made it too difficult to get a decent photo of the angel's face...

(21) Statue of the Estonian writer Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald (1803-1882).

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The construction of Kadriorg Palace in Tallinn, Estonia, started in 1718 on the order of Emperor Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great) (1672-1682-1725), but was not completed before after his death. It was named after his second wife Catherine (1684-1725-1727), née Marta Helena Skawrońska, who succeeded him on his death in 1725 and enjoyed a short reign before she died 2 years later. The German name of the baroque-style palace, which was designed by the Italian architect Niccolo Michetti, was Catherinethal ("Catherine's Valley"). The name by which the palace is better known today, Kadriorg - "Kadri" is an Estonian version of "Catherine" - was first established in the 20th century.

The palace was meant to be the summer residence of the Russian Emperor (Czar) when staying in Tallinn, and according to the official website, "Most of the Russian rulers, from Peter’s daughter Elizabeth, to the last Romanov emperor Nicholas II", have visited it. For a short period during the first Estonian independence, the palace served as the president's office, before the new presidential palace was built. Today the palace houses an art museum, a branch of the Art Museum of Estonia.

In the Kadriorg Park you can also find the Presidential Palace, which was finished in 1938, and which served its purpose once again from 1991 when the Republic of Estonia got independent for the second time, as well as the Peter The Great House Museum, Kumu Art Museum, the Swan Pond and the Russalka monument. Peter The Great used to stay in what is now a small museum during his visits to Tallinn during the construction work of the palace. Some of Peter's furniture can be viewed in the museum.

Kadriorg Palace and the park with the same name is only a short walk from Tallinn's old city. It can also be reached by taking tram no. 1 or 3.

All the photos were taken on Sunday 6 November 2011.