Grand cascade at Petrodvorets

This image: Alex 'Florstein' Fedorov, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Cascade_of_Peterhof_01.jpg

The architecture of power always conjures up a mixture of feelings, both positive and negative, and on this course you may well feel them all.  

We have chosen seven countries from around the world which are home to some of the most astounding historic palaces – many still surrounded by pleasure gardens, whose beauty and opulence often rival the buildings themselves.  

In India, we will explore the greatest creations of the Rajputs – especially the sublime Lake Palace of Udaipur. In France, the magnificence of the Loire chateaux lead us inevitably to the monolithic grandeur of Versailles – an idea so audacious that every European power floundered trying to match it. Perhaps only the Russians actually did so. Perhaps they even exceeded it. You can judge, as we visit such delights as Petrodvorets and Tsarskoye Selo.  

Some palaces simply kept on growing and growing through centuries. Beijing’s Forbidden City, and Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace are veritable history lessons in stone. Elsewhere, some palaces may be less impressive in terms of size, but they more than exceed in opulence. In central Europe, the courts of Dresden, Potsdam, and Bavaria are cases in point. And they are the homes of kings… just wait until you see how the Prince-Bishops lived.

If you can’t visit in person this summer, take a tour with us instead!

RJW F2423 Online course (via Zoom)

7 weeks, Wednesday 24 July - Wednesday 4 September.

£80 (individual registration); £144 (for two people sharing one screen).