Rundāle Palace is one of the two major baroque palaces built for the Dukes of Courland in what is now Latvia, the other being Jelgava Palace. The palace was built in two periods, from 1736 until 1740 and from 1764 until 1768. It is situated at Pilsrundāle, in Rundāle Parish, Bauska Municipality in the Semigallia region, 12 km west of Bauska.
Rundāle Palace
Aerial view of the palace and the gardens
Throne room
Duke's sleeping chambers
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was a duchy in the Baltic region, then known as Livonia, that existed from 1561 to 1569 as a nominally vassal state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and subsequently made part of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom from 1569 to 1726 and incorporated into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1726. On March 28, 1795, it was annexed by the Russian Empire in the Third Partition of Poland.
Double-Denar with monogram of Grand Duke Stephen Báthory and the coat of arms of Lithuania, minted in Mitau, 1578
Coin of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia with portrait of Ernst Johann von Biron, coat of arms of Poland and the coat of arms of Lithuania, 1764
Jelgava Palace, the main residence of the dukes
Image: Gotthard Kettler