Kadriorg Park

The Palace and Park complex "Kadriorg" is located in Tallinn, near the city center.
GPS-coordinates: 59°26'15.9"N, 24°47'23.5"E

The Russian Emperor Peter the Great and his wife Catherine I visited Tallinn (Revel) in 1711.
The Tsar really liked the area near Old Tallinn, from where he could see the city and the harbor.
He decided to build here a palace with a park for his wife and called this place the "Catherine's valley".
In Estonian - Kadriorg...

The Palace and park complex was built according to the project of the Italian architect Niccolo Michetti from 1718 to 1727.
It includes a palace with outbuildings and a surrounding park with fountains and ponds.

We entered the park and saw such pretty benches...

And a large rectangular pond with a garden house in the center...

The park is very green, lots of trees, bushes and flowers.
Visitors walk along well-groomed paths near flower beds and fountains and ride by bicycles.

It was very beautiful here...

In the park there are many monuments and sculptural compositions.

And here is a playground for children...
Behind it - the Miiamilla Children's Museum in Kadriorg.

We walked along the road to the building with a guard of honor...

We had read the sign on the wall of the building...
This is the Residence of the President of the Republic of Estonia.

The building was built in 1938 by architect Alar Kotli.

Here we met a large group of tourists from Japan.
And we followed them...

And we approached the Palace of Catherine I...

Together with tourists from Japan we went around the palace, next to the outhouse...

The courtyard of the Palace "Kadriorg"!

Well, Peter the Great probably loved Catherine, if he built such a complex and named it in her honor.

Now, in the Kadriorg Palace there is a branch of the Estonian Art Museum - the Kadriorg Art Museum.
Pictures of Russian and Western painters of the 16th-20th centuries, sculptures and works of applied art are located here.

One of the service buildings of the Palace.

I was looking at the Palace and thought that I had seen somewhere similar...
And I remembered!
The Kadriorg Palace and its elegant gardens with fountains are similar to Peterhof Palace, near St. Petersburg, in Russia!

And we are going to look for the house of the one who created all this - "Peter the Great House Museum"

Tsar Peter I bought this building in 1714 and used it as his residence during his visits to Tallinn, while the Palace "Kadriorg" was under construction.
The museum's exhibition contains unique items that surrounded Peter I and Catherine I during their stay in the house.

This house is now known as "Peter's house".

We decided to rest on a bench in Kadriorg Park.
The park is wonderful and we really liked it.

Can we see something else here?
Of course...
It is the Mikkel Museum with a collection of paintings, sculptures and porcelain.
And the Kumu Art Museum.
And the Japanese Garden...
And also a lot of very beautiful buildings...

We left the Kadriorg Park and walked along the wide avenue towards the sea...

At the exit from the park, near the sea, there is bronze monument...

It is the Russalka Memorial which commemorates the loss of a Russian warship in 1893.
177 military seamen died on September 7, 1893.

The monument was opened on September 7, 1902, on the ninth anniversary of the death of the ship.
A gray granite symbolizes the nose of the ship, which moves against the sea waves.
The monument depicts an angel holding a gold cross towards the assumed direction of the shipwreck.

The monument is surrounded by stone pillars with chains.
Very beautiful historical lights are installed.

And the Baltic Sea is near...

You can walk along the shore of the Tallinn Bay...

You will see huge ferries that bring thousands of tourists to the city...

But we went along the seafront towards the city center, to our hotel.