Radziwill Palace, Vilnius, Lithuania

Radziwiłł Palace is a Late Renaissance palace in the Old Town of Vilnius. It had been the second palace of Radziwiłłs by importance in Vilnius and the largest one. It is likely that Mikołaj 'the Black' Radziwiłł"s wooden Vilnius mansion was on the same site, but the current building was constructed by the order of Janusz Radziwiłł from 1635 until 1653, according to the design by Jan Ullrich. The building fell in ruin after the Muscovite invasion 1655-1660 and remain mostly neglected for centuries. It was further devastated during World War I and only the northern wing of the palace survived. Eventually, it was restored in 1980s and a division of the Lithuanian Art Museum is located there today. A part of the palace is still in need of renovation today.

Being the only survived Renaissance palace in Vilnius it has features of the Netherlands Renaissance as well as Manneristic decorations native to the Lithuanian Renaissance architecture. Its original layout and symmetry of structural elements was distinctive to the palaces of the Late French Renaissance resembling that of Château de Fontainebleau and Luxembourg Palace in Paris.

References:

Wikipedia

Palaces, manors and town halls in Lithuania

User Reviews

Vilma Jar (2 years ago)
Muziejaus eksponatai puikūs - likome sužavėti ir paveikslų grožiu, ir Radvilų palikimu. Įdomus ir nematytas paveikslas buvo "Mergelė sopulingoji", prie kurio arti priėjus, matosi riedanti skruostu ašara! Deja, pačiam pastatui reikalingas remontas... ypač pirmam aukštui...

Alexey Galaktikov (3 years ago)
Do not go to this museum. The most sad and uninteresting museum in the world. It seems that the exhibition consists of pictures that were a pity to throw out. Do not waste your time.

Andrew 1971 (3 years ago)
Pleasant collection in slightly run down, dowdy museum. Not a must see but a pleasant way to spend an hour if you're passing by.

Ramunė Vaičiulytė (3 years ago)
Need so much renovation of building and expositions too :)

Andy Hernandez (4 years ago)
Back to the USSR place.

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Glimmingehus

Glimmingehus is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false doors and dead-end corridors, 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, moats, drawbridges and various other forms of death traps to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. The lower part of the castle's stone walls are 2.4 meters (94 inches) thick and the upper part 1.8 meters (71 inches).

Construction was started in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand and stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral. Construction was completed in 1506.

Ulfstand was a councillor, nobleman and admiral serving under John I of Denmark and many objects have been uncovered during archeological excavations that demonstrate the extravagant lifestyle of the knight's family at Glimmingehus up until Ulfstand's death in 1523. Some of the most expensive objects for sale in Europe during this period, such as Venetian glass, painted glass from the Rhine district and Spanish ceramics have been found here. Evidence of the family's wealth can also be seen inside the stone fortress, where everyday comforts for the knight's family included hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses. Although considered comfortable for its period, it has also been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of "Knighthood nostalgia" and not considered opulent or progressive enough even to the knight's contemporaries and especially not to later generations of the Scanian nobility. Glimmingehus is thought to have served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

An order from Charles XI to the administrators of the Swedish dominion of Scania in 1676 to demolish the castle, in order to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the Scanian War, could not be executed. A first attempt, in which 20 Scanian farmers were ordered to assist, proved unsuccessful. An additional force of 130 men were sent to Glimmingehus to execute the order in a second attempt. However, before they could carry out the order, a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad, and the Swedes had to abandon the demolition attempts. Throughout the 18th century the castle was used as deposit for agricultural produce and in 1924 it was donated to the Swedish state. Today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

On site there is a museum, medieval kitchen, shop and restaurant and coffee house. During summer time there are several guided tours daily. In local folklore, the castle is described as haunted by multiple ghosts and the tradition of storytelling inspired by the castle is continued in the summer events at the castle called "Strange stories and terrifying tales".

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