The California Palace of the Legion of Honor is a beautiful Beaux-arts building housing a fine-art collection in San Francisco, California, Built to commemorate the 3,600 Californian soldiers who died in World War I. San Francisco’s most beautiful museum displays an impressive collection of 4,000 years of ancient and European art. It owns more than 70 sculptures by Auguste Rodin, including a bronze cast of the artist’s best-known monument, The Thinker (cast c. 1904).

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The Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi is one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy in northern Italy, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. Built as a royal hunting lodge in the early 18th century, it is located in Stupinigi, a suburb of the town of Nichelino, 10 km southwest of Turin. The palace is also surrounded by impressive formal gardens. The surroundng area is now designated as the Stupinigi Natural Park. Within the palace there are also a large number of rooms that form part of a museum dedicated to 17th and 18th century furnishings, the Museum of Art and Furniture, collected from across the Piedmont region. Many of the enormous rooms are libraries, galleries, salons, private apartments, the King and Queens chambers etc decorated with paintings, trompe loeil, fine furniture and magnificent tapestries.

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The Zwinger is a palace in the eastern German city of Dresden, built in Rococo style and designed by court architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann. The Zwinger was commissioned by Augustus II, king of Poland and elector of Saxony, as a place for entertainments, tournaments, and royal festivities. It is conveniently located in the city center, part of the historic heart of the Altstadt or the Old Town. A Zwinger was a fort or a defensive building constructed between the inner and outer walls of a city.However, this particular Zwinger was never used for such a purpose. Zwinger Dresden attracts thousands of visitors per year.

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The Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, which was founded as a summer residence for the wife of Peter the Great, Catherine I, is a popular attraction for guests of St. Petersburg who want to see the Amber Chamber, the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, with their own eyes. The dazzling 18th-century Catherine Palace is a perfect example of Russian baroque, its bright-turquoise exterior distinguished by row after row of white columns and pilasters with gold baroque moldings running the entire 985 feet of the facade. Although much of the palace’s history and its inner architectural design bears Catherine the Great’s stamp, it’s for Catherine I, Peter the Great’s second wife, that the palace is named. Under their daughter, Empress Elizabeth, the original modest stone palace was completely rebuilt.

Opening Hours:

Catherine Park open 07:00 – 21:00.
Catherine\’s Palace open 10:00 – 18:00. ?losed Tue and last

Prices:

Admission: Caterine Park and Alexander Park free.
Catherine Palace 400Rbl. Tickets available only in Palace vestibule.

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Nymphenburg Palace was built as a summer residence for Bavarian kings. It is a magnificent structure artistically shaped by the various Electors over its history. Exhibiting both baroque and rococo styles, the rooms are decorated with fantastic frescos and tapestries. The massive Great Hall was decorated in the Rococo style by Johann Baptist Zimmermann and François Cuvilliés the Elder under Elector Max III Joseph. A famous feature of the palace is the “Gallery of Beauties”, painted for King Ludwig I by Joseph Stieler. The 200-hectare park surrounding the palace is an attraction of its own with the canal and reflecting pool before the entrance which runs to a cascade at the far end of the gardens. This a popular recreation spot in Munich and it is quite relaxing to have a picnic by the water with the swans and ducks, and there are many hidden treasures within the park.

Opening hours
April-15 October: 9 am-6 pm
16 October-March: 10 am-4 pm
Open daily

Opening hours park
January, February, November: 6.30 am-6 pm
March: 6 am-6.30 pm
April, September: 6 am-8.30 pm
May-August: 6 am-9.30 pm
October: 6 am-7 pm
December: 6.30 am-5.30 pm

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The Alcázar of Seville is one of the most representative monumental compounds in the city. It is the Royal Palace of Seville, a magnificent complex of patios and halls in different architectural styles, from Mudéjar to Gothic. The heart of the complex is the Palace of King Pedro I, who constructed his royal residence in 1364 at the site of a Moorish palace. Nowadays, the Alcazar is a part-time residence for the present Spanish royal family, including King Juan Carlos. Even though only a few rooms are reserved for their usage, unfortunately, when they’re in, the complex becomes closed to tourists. It was granted World Heritage Site status in 1988.

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Pena National Palace, in the historical town of Sintra and part of the Pena park, represents one of the best expressions in the world of 19th-century architectural Romanticism. The palace was built in such a way as to be visible from any point in the park, which consists of a forest and luxuriant gardens with over five hundred different species of trees originating from the four corners of the earth. Designed by mining engineer and amateur architect Baron Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege as a summer house for the royal family, the interior of Pena features ornate stuccos, multi-patterned columns, Moorish-arched ceilings, and much of the original monastery’s chapel. The exterior is festooned with allegorical carvings, references to Biblical stories and religious icons, as well as lavishly painted Portuguese tiles. The most complete view of the palace complex, including an enormous, turreted clock-tower, can be glimpsed from the Queen’s Terrace.

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Fontainebleau is a lovely historical town south of Paris. It is known for its historical Château de Fontainebleau of the kings of France, which attracts crowds of tourists. It has been the main summer residence for French Monarchs for hundreds of years. The château you see today dates from the 16th century, although additions were made by various royal incumbents through the next 300 years. Fontainbleau had the noblest garden in France. It was made for a king, Francois I, who wished to rival the great courts of Italy.

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The most popular Jaipur attractions to visit are the ancient palaces and forts, with elaborate architecture that serves as a resplendent reminder of their royal heritage. The City Palace is an imposing blend of traditional Rajasthani and Mughal art and architecture. It is located in the heart of the Pink City Jaipur. This palace includes the famous Chandra Mahal and Mubarak Mahal, and other buildings which form a part of the palace complex. The palace was built between 1729 and 1732, initially by Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber.

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The palace of Persepolis was planned and begun by the Persian emperor Darius I in the early fifth century BC, although it was not until the reign of his grandson, Artaxerxes, that it was finally finished around the year 425 BC. Conceived to be the seat of government for the Achaemenian kings and a center for receptions and ceremonial festivities. It was one of the great Persian temple complexes until it was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. The ruins were not excavated until the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago sponsored an archaeological expedition to Persepolis and its environs under the supervision of Professor Ernst Herzfeld from 1931 to 1934, and Erich F. Schmidt from 1934 to 1939. Persepolis was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

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