July 5: Rundele Palace, Hill of Crosses, Vilnius
Dear Friends and Relatives,
We left Riga this morning after breakfast, and the total driving length from Riga, Latvia to Vilnius, Lithuania was pegged to be 4-5 hours in length. En route we stopped at the town of Pilsrundele and then drove to Rundele Palace, the former residence of the Dukes of Courland. The palace has Russian associations, as Peter the Great married off his niece, Anna Ioannovna, to Duke Frederick Wilhelm in 1710. He died two months later, and Anna became Empress of Russia in 1730 and presented the duchy of Courland to court favorite, Ernst Johann von Buehren, known in Russia as Biron. She married him off to one of her ladies-in-waiting. Biron commissioned the great architect Rastrelli (who had designed the Hermitage in St. Petersburg) to design Rundele Palace.
The Empress Anna died in 1740, and Biron fell from grace and was sent to Siberia by the new Russian Empress, Elizabeth. Later, under Catherine the Great, he once again found favor at court and presided over a glittering court at nearby Jelgava and at Rundele.
Rundele Palace is an architectural wonder in Latvia. It is a Baroque structure filled with Rococo furnishings and is a monument to 18th c. aristocratic excess. Biron, the Duke of Courland, named it, and that name “Rundele” is a corruption of the German “Ruhetal” or “Valley of Piece.” It is a 138-room summer hideaway whose construction was completed in 1740. It was not until the 1760s that the interior was decorated. Upon the abolition of the duchy in 1795, Biron’s son Peter was thrown out of the palace and it was given to Catherine the Great’s favorite, Platon Zubov. It remained in private hands until 1920 and the fell into a state of disrepair. Meticulous restoration commenced in 1972, and a large portion of the palace has been restored to its former glory. About 1/3 of the palace is open to the public.
To get to the palace, we passed through an allee of chestnut trees and then crossed a small moat, A wine-red gatehouse leads to an oval-shaped outer courtyard. Once inside, a visitor sees the Guild Hall, a long, showpiece for ceremonial receptions. Then the Grand Gallery, which features an animated ceiling fresco of the god Apollo; the White Hall, a ballroom the size of a basketball court; the Rose Room, with ceiling frescoes depicting Flora, the goddess of spring; the Lord’s Bedchamber, with its massive tile stoves; the Audience Room, with its family portraits; and the rooms of the west wing. Please check out the details I photographed today as I was going through the tour—they are to be found of Facebook.
After the tour, our entire group had dinner at the Palace before parting for our next venue, the Hill of Crosses, just off the main road to Riga. It sums up the Lithuanian character more than any site in the country. Its presence combines evidence of Catholic piety and an appreciation for the simple forms of folk art with a fondness for the mysterious. This hill may have been associated with ancestor worship in the pre-Christian era. It is said that the rebellions of 1831 and 1863 were what turned this place into a major focus of remembrance. The Tsarist authorities would never have tolerated such an open demonstration of national sentiment in an urban center.
It was certainly known by the 1950s, however, as a site of patriotic pilgrimage to preserve the memory of those who died or disappeared as a result of mass deportations to Siberia. Determined to discourage any further memorials, Soviet authorities had the site bulldozed repeatedly in the 1960s. Each time the crosses were replaced (now there are over 150,000 crosses and counting)!!!!!A visit by Pope John Paul II in 1993 helped propel the crosses into a pilgrimage destination. Check my photos on Facebook. As clouds were lowering, the wind at one point whipped around and a driving rain threatened to knock me off my feet. It was almost as if the spirits of the dead were making themselves understood to me, and that my presence was troubling them.
A quick exit, and then we were back on our way. After an hour we stopped at a gas station/shop and found lots of ubiquitous amber for sale. I bought a black currant/pomegranate juice, and we observed all kinds of interesting new foods, among which were “sakotis,” large, honey-colored cakes in the shape of spiky fir trees. If they hadn’t been so large, I would have bought one! Will try to get one tomorrow on my foray throughout the town.
Have just had dinner at the hotel, and will finish today’s blog and photographs before retiring for another full day tomorrow. Take care, and greetings from Vilnius! As ever, Sylvia
We left Riga this morning after breakfast, and the total driving length from Riga, Latvia to Vilnius, Lithuania was pegged to be 4-5 hours in length. En route we stopped at the town of Pilsrundele and then drove to Rundele Palace, the former residence of the Dukes of Courland. The palace has Russian associations, as Peter the Great married off his niece, Anna Ioannovna, to Duke Frederick Wilhelm in 1710. He died two months later, and Anna became Empress of Russia in 1730 and presented the duchy of Courland to court favorite, Ernst Johann von Buehren, known in Russia as Biron. She married him off to one of her ladies-in-waiting. Biron commissioned the great architect Rastrelli (who had designed the Hermitage in St. Petersburg) to design Rundele Palace.
The Empress Anna died in 1740, and Biron fell from grace and was sent to Siberia by the new Russian Empress, Elizabeth. Later, under Catherine the Great, he once again found favor at court and presided over a glittering court at nearby Jelgava and at Rundele.
Rundele Palace is an architectural wonder in Latvia. It is a Baroque structure filled with Rococo furnishings and is a monument to 18th c. aristocratic excess. Biron, the Duke of Courland, named it, and that name “Rundele” is a corruption of the German “Ruhetal” or “Valley of Piece.” It is a 138-room summer hideaway whose construction was completed in 1740. It was not until the 1760s that the interior was decorated. Upon the abolition of the duchy in 1795, Biron’s son Peter was thrown out of the palace and it was given to Catherine the Great’s favorite, Platon Zubov. It remained in private hands until 1920 and the fell into a state of disrepair. Meticulous restoration commenced in 1972, and a large portion of the palace has been restored to its former glory. About 1/3 of the palace is open to the public.
To get to the palace, we passed through an allee of chestnut trees and then crossed a small moat, A wine-red gatehouse leads to an oval-shaped outer courtyard. Once inside, a visitor sees the Guild Hall, a long, showpiece for ceremonial receptions. Then the Grand Gallery, which features an animated ceiling fresco of the god Apollo; the White Hall, a ballroom the size of a basketball court; the Rose Room, with ceiling frescoes depicting Flora, the goddess of spring; the Lord’s Bedchamber, with its massive tile stoves; the Audience Room, with its family portraits; and the rooms of the west wing. Please check out the details I photographed today as I was going through the tour—they are to be found of Facebook.
After the tour, our entire group had dinner at the Palace before parting for our next venue, the Hill of Crosses, just off the main road to Riga. It sums up the Lithuanian character more than any site in the country. Its presence combines evidence of Catholic piety and an appreciation for the simple forms of folk art with a fondness for the mysterious. This hill may have been associated with ancestor worship in the pre-Christian era. It is said that the rebellions of 1831 and 1863 were what turned this place into a major focus of remembrance. The Tsarist authorities would never have tolerated such an open demonstration of national sentiment in an urban center.
It was certainly known by the 1950s, however, as a site of patriotic pilgrimage to preserve the memory of those who died or disappeared as a result of mass deportations to Siberia. Determined to discourage any further memorials, Soviet authorities had the site bulldozed repeatedly in the 1960s. Each time the crosses were replaced (now there are over 150,000 crosses and counting)!!!!!A visit by Pope John Paul II in 1993 helped propel the crosses into a pilgrimage destination. Check my photos on Facebook. As clouds were lowering, the wind at one point whipped around and a driving rain threatened to knock me off my feet. It was almost as if the spirits of the dead were making themselves understood to me, and that my presence was troubling them.
A quick exit, and then we were back on our way. After an hour we stopped at a gas station/shop and found lots of ubiquitous amber for sale. I bought a black currant/pomegranate juice, and we observed all kinds of interesting new foods, among which were “sakotis,” large, honey-colored cakes in the shape of spiky fir trees. If they hadn’t been so large, I would have bought one! Will try to get one tomorrow on my foray throughout the town.
Have just had dinner at the hotel, and will finish today’s blog and photographs before retiring for another full day tomorrow. Take care, and greetings from Vilnius! As ever, Sylvia
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