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Founded: 1820sCategory: Palaces, manors and town halls in Estonia
Historical period: Part of the Russian Empire (Estonia)
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The history of Pirgu Mansion dates back to the 17th century. Earliest document is dated 1662 when mansion belonged to famous Estonian noble family -Ykskyll (Uexküll). Pirgu that was the wooden building back then had no substantial damages during North War (Põhjasõda), but was after this war sold to family Peez to whom it belonged over 100 years.
In 1819 Sir Gideon Von Sthal brought Pirgu for 90 000 silver roubles and started soon building of new presentable mansion-ensemble in place of an old wooden house. Demure in dimensions but still with a blaze of Hõreda in style there are similarities in proportions and shape. Exceptional attentiveness was shown to the park that has also influences from English Park. Park of Pirgu has been brought out as the park with most beautiful sights in Baltic States.
Elaborated are sights down the river; the sight of the lordly house opens on to road when one is on his way. Winding road leads along the coasts of the river through the contrastrly laid wood groups to the park square where the ensemble picture of pavilion, bridges and storehouses is seen. The tree sorts in park are interesting and rare. In this park you can also see the tallest nut tree in the Baltic States. About 250 different species of plants have been found in 10-hectare park. The park is under nature protection and manor house is under architectural protection.
The life in mansion had high times during the thirties of 19th century. It was followed by many changes in ownership in 1847 family of Wulffsdorff, in 1887 J.V. Hagemeister etc. And before the house was ruined to foundations in World War I the owner was Gessy Von Wetter-Rosenthal. Nowadays owner is Ruth - Kaja Pekk. House and the park were rebuilt from the ruins from 1984 to 1987 using the old drawings and pictures so today it is mainly the same as it used to be.
References:Kroměříž stands on the site of an earlier ford across the River Morava. The gardens and castle of Kroměříž are an exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a European Baroque princely residence and its gardens and described as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The first residence on the site was founded by bishop Stanislas Thurzo in 1497. The building was in a Late Gothic style, with a modicum of Renaissance detail. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was sacked by the Swedish army (1643).
It was not until 1664 that a bishop from the powerful Liechtenstein family charged architect Filiberto Lucchese with renovating the palace in a Baroque style. The chief monument of Lucchese's work in Kroměříž is the Pleasure Garden in front of the castle. Upon Lucchese's death in 1666, Giovanni Pietro Tencalla completed his work on the formal garden and had the palace rebuilt in a style reminiscent of the Turinese school to which he belonged.
After the castle was gutted by a major fire in March 1752, Bishop Hamilton commissioned two leading imperial artists, Franz Anton Maulbertsch and Josef Stern, arrived at the residence in order to decorate the halls of the palace with their works. In addition to their paintings, the palace still houses an art collection, generally considered the second finest in the country, which includes Titian's last mythological painting, The Flaying of Marsyas. The largest part of the collection was acquired by Bishop Karel in Cologne in 1673. The palace also contains an outstanding musical archive and a library of 33,000 volumes.
UNESCO lists the palace and garden among the World Heritage Sites. As the nomination dossier explains, 'the castle is a good but not outstanding example of a type of aristocratic or princely residence that has survived widely in Europe. The Pleasure Garden, by contrast, is a very rare and largely intact example of a Baroque garden'. Apart from the formal parterres there is also a less formal nineteenth-century English garden, which sustained damage during floods in 1997.
Interiors of the palace were extensively used by Miloš Forman as a stand-in for Vienna's Hofburg Imperial Palace during filming of Amadeus (1984), based on the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who actually never visited Kroměříž. The main audience chamber was also used in the film Immortal Beloved (1994), in the piano concerto scene.