Palanga Amber Museum

Palanga, Lithuania

The Palanga Amber Museum houses a collection of amber comprising about 28,000 pieces, of which about 15,000 contain inclusions of insects, spiders, or plants. About 4,500 pieces of amber are exhibited; many of these are items of artwork and jewelry. Amber workshops appeared in Palanga during the 17th century; guilds devoted to the material functioned in Brügge, Lübeck, Danzig, and Königsberg. By the end of the 18th century Palanga was the center of the Russian Empire's amber industry. In the years preceding World War I about 2,000 kilograms of raw amber were processed in Palanga annually.

The exhibition areas open to the public include 15 rooms covering about 750 square meters. A chapel connected to the palace houses temporary exhibitions. The museum is thematically divided into the scientific and cultural/artistic aspects of amber.

The museum is located to Tiškevičiai Palace, a Neo-Renaissance style palace built in 1893-1897. The palace is surrounded by a park with ponds, fountains, and collections of rare plants. The palace is surrounded by the Palanga Botanical Garden.

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Address

Vytauto gatvė 19, Palanga, Lithuania
See all sites in Palanga

Details

Founded: 1963
Category: Museums in Lithuania

More Information

en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.7/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Klaipeda Castle Ruins (22,8 km)
Kretinga Museum (12 km)
Kretinga Monastery (11,8 km)
Sventoji (13,3 km)
Grobina Burial Ground (46 km)

User Reviews

Marius Puzauskas (4 months ago)
This is Lithuanian amber history - must see if you are first time in Palanga or never been in this museum before!
Simona Tumėnaitė (5 months ago)
Such an interesting exposition! My favourite part was looking at the amber inclusions through the magnifying glass - you can see all the tiny bugs and animals that have been preserved for millions of years. There were some pre-historic amber items, amber jewllery, different types of amber were explained. There's also a beautiful park and a botanical garden in the area. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area given entry is quite cheap!
Clara Sá (5 months ago)
This is a very interesting place for those who enjoy history, besides, the gardens surrounding the museum are quite beautiful.
Beastier (5 months ago)
Nice place to visit, even with masks! There is a lot of amber under magnifying glasses that show bug, pretty cool! Definitely recommended.
Tomas Lyčius (6 months ago)
We visit it every year. It's became a tradition. The whole park area is great.
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Palazzo Colonna

The Palazzo Colonna is a palatial block of buildings built in part over ruins of an old Roman Serapeum, and has belonged to the prestigious Colonna family for over twenty generations.

The first part of the palace dates from the 13th century, and tradition holds that the building hosted Dante in his visit to Rome. The first documentary mention notes that the property hosted Cardinal Giovanni and Giacomo Colonna in the 13th century. It was also home to Cardinal Oddone Colonna before he ascended to the papacy as Martin V (1417–1431).

With his passing, the palace was sacked during feuds, and the main property passed into the hands of the Della Rovere family. It returned to the Colonna family when Marcantonio I Colonna married Lucrezia Gara Franciotti Della Rovere, the niece of pope Julius II. The Colonna"s alliance to the Habsburg power, likely protected the palace from looting during the Sack of Rome (1527).

Starting with Filippo Colonna (1578–1639) many changes have refurbished and create a unitary complex around a central garden. Architects including Girolamo Rainaldi and Paolo Marucelli labored on specific projects. Only in the 17th and 18th centuries were the main facades completed. Much of this design was completed by Antonio del Grande (including the grand gallery), and Girolamo Fontana (decoration of gallery). In the 18th century, the long low facade designed by Nicola Michetti with later additions by Paolo Posi with taller corner blocks (facing Piazza Apostoli) was constructed recalls earlier structures resembling a fortification.

The main gallery (completed 1703) and the masterful Colonna art collection was acquired after 1650 by both the cardinal Girolamo I Colonna and his nephew the Connestabile Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna and includes works by Lorenzo Monaco, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Palma the Elder, Salviati, Bronzino, Tintoretto, Pietro da Cortona, Annibale Carracci (painting of The Beaneater), Guercino, Francesco Albani, Muziano and Guido Reni. Ceiling frescoes by Filippo Gherardi, Giovanni Coli, Sebastiano Ricci, and Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari celebrate the role of Marcantonio II Colonna in the battle of Lepanto (1571). The gallery is open to the public on Saturday mornings.

The older wing of the complex known as the Princess Isabelle"s apartments, but once housing Martin V"s library and palace, contains frescoes by Pinturicchio, Antonio Tempesta, Crescenzio Onofri, Giacinto Gimignani, and Carlo Cesi. It contains a collection of landscapes and genre scenes by painters like Gaspard Dughet, Caspar Van Wittel (Vanvitelli), and Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Along with the possessions of the Doria-Pamphilij and Pallavacini-Rospigliosi families, this is one of the largest private art collections in Rome.

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