Kadriorg Palace wing and the President’s gas shelter

The “Behind-the-Scenes” of Kadriorg Palace

Kadriorg Palace is open to everyone because it houses a museum. However, even in a generally accessible building, there are places where visitors are not allowed. Only within the scope of the Open House Tallinn 2024 event, it is possible to visit two “secret” rooms in Kadriorg Palace – the underground gas shelter built for President Konstantin Päts and the dining room adorned with ceiling paintings in the seaside wing of the palace.

Built as a summer residence for Peter I from 1718 to 1726, Kadriorg Palace consists of a main building and two symmetrical wings, one intended for chamberlains and the other for chambermaids. The wings were built almost three years earlier than the main building, which allowed Peter and Catherine to stay in the seaside wing during their visit in 1721. For this purpose, a more festive interior decoration was done there, including ceiling paintings. Despite alterations over time, one of these paintings has miraculously survived. In the first half of the 20th century, the sculptor August Weizenberg and the family of Colonel Herbert Grabbi, President Päts’ adjutant, lived in this wing.