Tallinn: Old Town in Depth - Part 23

Kadriorg Palace - Kadriorg Art Museum

This grand, baroque palace built for Peter the Great in 1718 now houses the Art Museum of Estonia' s foreign collection.

A trip to Tallinn isn’t a trip to Tallinn without making the time at some point to visit the northern Baroque palace. It was designed by Italian architect Niccolo Michetti and the palace and surrounding manicured gardens give you a complete understanding of the term ‘Tsarist extravagance’. At a time when most people had very little these palaces built for occasional use are very grand.

In its current role as the Kadriorg Art Museum, it displays hundreds of 16th to 20th-century paintings by Western and Russian artists, as well as prints, sculptures and other works.

While here, don' t miss the decadent, two-storey main hall, with its elaborately painted ceiling and stucco work, or the room used as an office by Estonia' s head of state before the nearby Presidential Palace was built.

Surrounding the Palace are several interesting palace side buildings. A good example is the restored kitchen building, which now houses a cosy art museum called the Mikkel Museum, and the humble summer cottage is the Peter I House Museum. The palace governor’s house, the castellan’s house, is now home to the Kastellaanimaja Gallery and the Eduard Vilde House Museum. If you have a Tallin card then entrance is free.

Kumu Art Museum

By far the nation' s largest and most cutting-edge art museum, the Kumu displays Estonian created works from the 18th-21st centuries.

Kuma is a must-see for culture fanatics, it is the main building of Art Museum of Estonia, serves both as Estonia' s national gallery and as a centre for contemporary art. In 2008, the European Museum Forum, which operates under the auspices of the Council of Europe, awarded Kumu the title of ' European Museum of the Year'. Entrance is free with Tallinn Card.

The complex itself is a work of art, it was opened in 2006 after nearly a decade of planning and construction, and is considered a modern architectural masterpiece. Curves and sharp edges mark out the copper and limestone structure, which is built into the side of a limestone cliff.

Kumu' s exhibition aims to appeal to diverse audiences. Exhibitions display both classical and contemporary art and everything in between. The programme features art from the 18th century until today, Estonian art until the Second World War, art of the Soviet era and temporary exhibitions of contemporary art. The next section explains some of what you see in detail.

Continued in Part 24