Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland

On his death, Gabriel de Rumine, son of Russian nobility, left the city of Lausanne 1.5 million Swiss Francs to erect a building for the use of the public. Building began in 1892 according to the design of the Lyonnais architect Gaspard André. The building was inaugurated on the 3 November 1902, although building work continued until 1904.

On 24 July 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed in Palais de Rumine.

It housed facilities such as the library of the University of Lausanne, and scientific and artistic collections belonging to the Canton of Vaud. In the 1980s, the university moved to its current location by Lake Geneva due to lack of space, and the Palais was restructured.

The building currently hosts one of the three sites of the Cantonal and University Library of Lausanne. Additionally, it contains several museums like Musée cantonal des beaux-arts (Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts), Musée cantonal d'archéologie et d'histoire (Cantonal Museum of Archeology and History) and Musée monétaire cantonal (Cantonal Museum of Money).

References:

Wikipedia

Palaces, manors and town halls in Switzerland

User Reviews

Nir Aviv Shapir (2 years ago)
The building itself actually looks like a palace... The inside as well and each exhibition is better than its predecessor

三根彩美 (3 years ago)
It’s really worth to visit

Tara O'Brien (3 years ago)
A pretty spot in central Lausanne with a museum inside. The museum sometimes has special exhibits so it's good to look up the museum online and see what's on. The museum had an odd layout so make sure to grab a map. It'll come in handy.

Michael Bills (3 years ago)
A very classic European style museum. A great value (it's free!), housed in a beautiful historical building. I didn't necessarily see anything I haven't seen before in other museums, but it was still a good way to pass a few hours in Lausanne.

Naveen Yellambalse (3 years ago)
Amazing museums in a palace setting. They have 4 to 5 different museums here. The entry is free to all! It is typically a 2h visit around all the museums, but can be extended longer if a certain part of the museum is of more interest.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Varvara_R

Historic Site of the week

Trinity Sergius Lavra

The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is a world famous spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church and a popular site of pilgrimage and tourism. It is the most important working Russian monastery and a residence of the Patriarch. This religious and military complex represents an epitome of the growth of Russian architecture and contains some of that architecture’s finest expressions. It exerted a profound influence on architecture in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe.

The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, was founded in 1337 by the monk Sergius of Radonezh. Sergius achieved great prestige as the spiritual adviser of Dmitri Donskoi, Great Prince of Moscow, who received his blessing to the battle of Kulikov of 1380. The monastery started as a little wooden church on Makovets Hill, and then developed and grew stronger through the ages.

Over the centuries a unique ensemble of more than 50 buildings and constructions of different dates were established. The whole complex was erected according to the architectural concept of the main church, the Trinity Cathedral (1422), where the relics of St. Sergius may be seen.

In 1476 Pskovian masters built a brick belfry east of the cathedral dedicated to the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. The church combines unique features of early Muscovite and Pskovian architecture. A remarkable feature of this church is a bell tower under its dome without internal interconnection between the belfry and the cathedral itself.

The Cathedral of the Assumption, echoing the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Moscow Kremlin, was erected between 1559 and 1585. The frescoes of the Assumption Cathedral were painted in 1684. At the north-western corner of the Cathedral, on the site of the western porch, in 1780 a vault containing burials of Tsar Boris Godunov and his family was built.

In the 16th century the monastery was surrounded by 6 meters high and 3,5 meters thick defensive walls, which proved their worth during the 16-month siege by Polish-Lithuanian invaders during the Time of Trouble. They were later strengthened and expanded.

After the Upheaval of the 17th century a large-scale building programme was launched. At this time new buildings were erected in the north-western part of the monastery, including infirmaries topped with a tented church dedicated to Saints Zosima and Sawatiy of Solovki (1635-1637). Few such churches are still preserved, so this tented church with a unique tiled roof is an important contribution to the Lavra.

In the late 17th century a number of new buildings in Naryshkin (Moscow) Baroque style were added to the monastery.

Following a devastating fire in 1746, when most of the wooden buildings and structures were destroyed, a major reconstruction campaign was launched, during which the appearance of many of the buildings was changed to a more monumental style. At this time one of the tallest Russian belfries (88 meters high) was built.

In the late 18th century, when many church lands were secularized, the chaotic planning of the settlements and suburbs around the monastery was replaced by a regular layout of the streets and quarters. The town of Sergiev Posad was surrounded by traditional ramparts and walls. In the vicinity of the monastery a number of buildings belonging to it were erected: a stable yard, hotels, a hospice, a poorhouse, as well as guest and merchant houses. Major highways leading to the monastery were straightened and marked by establishing entry squares, the overall urban development being oriented towards the centrepiece - the Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra.

In 1993, the Trinity Lavra was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

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