Palace sights in Europe
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Schloss Nordkirchen
On an island surrounded by a sprawling, manicured park, Schloss Nordkirchen is an imposing baroque red-brick structure nicknamed the ‘Westphalian Versailles’. On a nice day, the palace is well worth visiting for the gardens and the exterior alone. Since it’s used as a state college for financial studies, the interior – with its stuccoed ceilings, festival hall and dining room – can only be seen on guided tours.
Schloss Nordkirchen is 8km southeast of Lüdinghausen in the hamlet of Nordkirchen, which is poorly served by public transport. Consult your bike map to find the route from Burg Vischering.
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Palau de la Generalitat
Founded in the early 15th century, the Palau de la Generalitat is open on limited occasions only (the second and fourth weekends of the month, plus open-door days). The most impressive of the ceremonial halls is the Saló de Sant Jordi, named after St George, the region's patron saint. At any time, however, you can admire the original Gothic main entrance on Carrer del Bisbe. To join weekend visits, book on the website.
Marc Safont designed the original Gothic main entrance on Carrer del Bisbe. The modern main entrance on Plaça de Sant Jaume is a late-Renaissance job with neoclassical leanings. If you wander by in the evening, squint up through the windows into the Saló…
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Khans’ Palace
When she was busy ordering the mass destruction of Bakhchysaray’s mosques in the 18th and early 19th centuries, Catherine the Great spared the Khans’ Palace. Her decision was reportedly based on the building being ‘romantic’, and it is sweet. While it lacks the imposing grandeur of Islamic structures in, say, Istanbul, this is a major landmark of Crimean culture and history.
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Farmer's Palace
To escape the crowds, even on summer weekends, wander through rambling Park Aleksandriya, immediately east of the Lower Park. Built for Tsar Nicholas I (and named for his tsarina), it features a neo-Gothic chapel, the ruined Farmer's Palace (1831), which vaguely resembles a stone farmstead, and the Cottage, a small palace dating from 1829 and modelled on an English country cottage, also with neo-Gothic interiors.
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Schloss Drachenburg
The neo-Gothic Schloss Drachenburg looks medieval but was actually built in the 1880s. It houses exhibits on the building's history, the ongoing restoration process and on the history of nature protection. Perhaps more interesting, though, are the lovely grounds with their terraces, fountains, and tower that can be climbed for expansive views.
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Schloss Charlottenburg
The grandest of Berlin’s surviving nine former royal pads is Schloss Charlottenburg. It consists of the main palace and two outbuildings in the lovely Schlossgarten (palace park). Each building charges separate admission, but it’s best to invest in the Tageskarte that gives you an entire day to see everything except the Neuer Flügel (New Wing). Come early on weekends and in summer. A palace visit is easily combined with a spin around the trio of nearby museums.
The Schloss began as the summer residence of Sophie Charlotte, wife of King Friedrich I. Their baroque living quarters in the palace’s oldest section, the Altes Schloss, are an extravaganza in stucco, brocade…
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Palacio del Marqués de Salvatierra
Just before you reach the Old Bridge you will pass the Palacio del Marqués de Salvatierra, a huge mansion that required the demolition of 42 houses for it to be built. Owned by the descendants of the Marqués de Moctezuma, the Governor of South America, the palace is decorated on its portal with carvings of native American Indians. The palace and all its antiques are sometimes open to the public.
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Palazzo della Ragione
Founded in 1228 to handle deals brokered and broken in this merchants' piazza, this elegant colonnaded hall of justice bears Milan's bristled boar insignia in terracotta. Empress Maria Theresa added a layer of bricks and bureaucracy with an archive of officially notarised papers, which piled up until 1961. Now the Palazzo hosts temporary exhibitions that don't mind being upstaged by their surroundings.
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Castle of the Christian Monarchs
The Castle of the Christian Monarchs began as a palace and fort for Alfonso X in the 13th century. From 1490 to 1821 the Inquisition operated from here. Today its gardens are among the most beautiful in Andalucía. The building houses an old royal bathhouse, the Baños Califales. Take time to gaze at the third century Roman sarcophagus, with its reflections on life and death.
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Schloss Esterházy
Schloss Esterházy, a giant, Schönbrunn-yellow castle-palace that dominates Esterházyplatz, is Eisenstadt’s most important attraction. Dating from the 14th century, the Schloss (castle) received one makeover in baroque and a later one in the neoclassical style. Many of the 256 rooms are occupied by the provincial government, but 25 can be viewed on tours.
The regular tour covers about seven rooms, giving you an insight into the history of the palace and the lives of the people who lived in it. The highlight is the frescoed Haydn Hall, where during Haydn’s employment by the Esterházys from 1761 to 1790 the composer conducted an orchestra on a near-nightly basis.
The …
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Schloss Jägerhof
Painted piglet-pink, but otherwise very dignified, the Schloss Jägerhof is a rococo confection dreamed up by leading 18th-century architect Johann Joseph Couven. Inside is the eclectic Goethe Museum, whose exhibits capture the spirit of this complex genius and his time. Putting the 'trip' in triptych is Paul Struck's epic oil painting (1974) depicting the Walpurgisnacht scene from Faust II.
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Neues Palais
At the far western end of the park, the New Palace has made-to-impress dimensions, a central dome and a lavish exterior capped with a parade of sandstone figures. It was the final and largest palace commissioned by Frederick the Great, built in only six years, largely to demonstrate the undiminished power of the Prussian state following the bloody Seven Years War (1756–63). The king himself rarely camped out here, preferring the intimacy of Schloss Sanssouci, using it for representational purposes only. Only the last German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, used it as a residence, until 1918.
The interior attests to the high level of artistry and craftsmanship of the time. It's an…
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Schloss Concordia
After Böttinger's family of 14 outgrew the space three years later, he hired Johann Dietzenhofer to build the even grander Schloss Concordia, a moated palace a short walk south of Böttingerhaus. It's now the home of the Künstlerhaus Villa Concordia, a state-sponsored artists' residence, and is open during events and exhibits - the tourist office can let you know what's on when.
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Palazzo del Banco di Santo Spirito
The early-16th-century Palazzo del Banco di Santo Spirito was designed by Antonio Sangallo the Younger and was the mint of Papal Rome. The facade of the building resembles a Roman triumphal arch and the two baroque statues crowning it represent Charity and Thrift.
In 1605 Pope Paul V formed the Banco di Santo Spirito (Holy Spirit Bank) which still exists as part of the Banca di Roma.
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Palazzo Villadorata
In the Palazzo Villadorata, the wrought-iron balconies are supported by a swirling pantomime of grotesque figures. Although empty of furnishings, the richly brocaded walls and frescoed ceilings of the palazzo give an idea of the sumptuous lifestyle of Sicilian nobles, as brought to life in the Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa novel Il Gattopardo (The Leopard).
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Royal Palace
The Royal Palace itself is a treat to see (it's now home to the massive, three-part National Art Museum). Built in 1812-15 by Prince Dinicu Golescu, the Palace became the official royal residence in 1834 during the reign of Prince Alexandru Ghica (r 1834-42). The current facade dates from the 1930s. Until 1989 it was the seat of the State Council and was called the Palace of the Republic.
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Schloss Weesenstein
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Kecskemét Gallery
One of the buildings in the square is among the city's finest. The Art Nouveau Ornamental Palace (Cifrapalota), which dates from 1902 and is covered in multicoloured majolica tiles, now contains the Kecskemét Gallery. Don't go in so much for the art; climb the steps to the aptly named Decorative Hall (Díszterem) to see the amazing stucco peacock, bizarre windows and more tiles.
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Palazzo Reale
Statues of the mythical twins Castor and Pollux guard the entrance to the Palazzo Reale and, according to local legend, also watch over the border between the sacred (‘white magic’) and diabolical (‘black magic’) halves of the city. Built for Carlo Emanuele II around 1646, its lavishly decorated rooms house an assortment of furnishings, porcelain and other knick-knacks.
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Terem Palace
The 16th- and 17th-century Terem Palace is the most splendid of the Kremlin palaces. A stone palace built by Vasily III, the living quarters include a dining room, living room, study, bedroom and small chapel. Unfortunately, the palace is closed to the public, but you can glimpse its cluster of 11 golden domes and chequered roof behind and above the Church of the Deposition of the Robe.
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Palace of the Maidens
Just past the ticket office to the Tombs of the Pontic Kings, the path divides: turn left to find a couple of tombs reached via a rock-hewn tunnel, or right to find more tombs and the remnants of the Palace of the Maidens. Though there were indeed harems full of maidens here, the palace that stood on this rock terrace was that of the kings of Pontus, and later of the Ottoman governors.
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Palazzo del Podestà
Dating to 13th century, the Palazzo del Podestà was the original residence of Bologna's chief magistrate. Beneath the palazzo there's a whispering gallery where two perpendicular passages intersect. Stand diagonally opposite someone and whisper: the acoustics are amazing. Both palazzi are off-limits to the public unless there's a temporary exhibition on.
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Hermitage
Curving around the south of Dvortsovaya ploshchad is the Carlo Rossi–designed General Staff Building of the Russian army (1819–29). Comprising two great classical blocks joined by arches, which are topped by a chariot of victory, it is another monument to the Napoleonic wars. Occupying the building’s east wing is a branch of the Hermitage.
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Palais de Rumine
The neo-Renaissance Palais de Rumine was built to lord it over Pl de la Riponne in 1904 and, aside from the parliament of the Vaud canton, is home to several museums. This is where the Treaty of Lausanne was signed in 1923, finalising the break-up of the Ottoman Empire after WWI. It contains the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts and a number of other museum collections.
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Radziwiłł Palace
The neoclassical Radziwiłł Palace is guarded by four stone lions and an equestrian Statue of Prince Józef Poniatowski. The prince was the nephew of the last Polish king, Stanisław August Poniatowski, and commander in chief of the Polish army of the Duchy of Warsaw created by Napoleon. Today the palace is the official residence of the president.
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