Palace
3/5
Rundāle Palace
Rundāle Palace in Pilsrundāle is widely celebrated as Latvia’s grandest Baroque and Rococo masterpiece. Designed by Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli for Ernst Johann von Biron, Duke of Courland, the 138-room palace was constructed in two major stages between 1736 and 1768. Beneath its gilded halls and French formal gardens lie centuries of political intrigue, exile, and ghost legends. Night watchmen, palace guides, and visitors frequently report sightings of the White Lady and Black Lady, along with inexplicable scents of perfume and unearthly piano music echoing through empty state rooms.