Baroque Palace of Oradea
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The Baroque Palace of Oradea (Romanian: Palatul Baroc din Oradea), also known as the Roman Catholic Episcopal Palace of Oradea (Romanian: Palatul Episcopiei Romano-Catolice din Oradea), of the city of Oradea in Bihor County, Romania, is a building that dates to the Baroque times.
History
It was founded in 1762 by the Baron Bishop Adam Patačić, as bishopric palace of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Magnovaradimum. Illustrious Viennese architect Franz Anton Hillebrandt, designer of many Austrian palaces and one of Europe's 18th century best, designed the palace and planned the city's posh side as Baroque quarter, while engineer A.J. Neumann was in charge of the palace's massive construction, complete with its 365 exterior windows resembling the days of the year and 120 large, extravagant rooms distributed on three floor plans.
The architecture of the palace is of late Austrian Baroque style, a more sober and practical type compared to the overly ornamented
Finally, in 1771, the Holy Roman Empress (jure uxori), Maria Theresa of Austria, together her son, future Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, arrived here to visit and make peace with a place whose project she did not initially fancy. In 1773 the palace unfortunately burned down entirely in a mysterious fire, but was reconstructed immediately by the next appointed bishop, after its original plans.
In the year 1855, a new side and entrance was added graciously in tone and respect with the initial building, with grand double stairways. Later in time, after Romania gained possession of Transylvania, it remained under the church's patronage but during the socialist regime, it was seized as state property.
On January 17, 1971, the Baroque Palace became a county museum hosting many large and fine archeological, historical, natural history, ethnographic and art collections under the name of "Muzeul Ţării Crişurilor" ("Museum of the Three Rivers Land"). The museum has approximately 400 000 pieces divided under four main collections: History and Archeology, Ethnography, Art and Natural History. Famous for its world-class Neolithic and Bronze Age collection, the museum also boasts treasures from Ancient Egypt and Greece. The ethnography section has probably the best of western Transylvanian folk exhibits anywhere, including a large selection of traditional costumes, peasant house appliances, pottery and painted Easter eggs.
The highlights of the Natural History section are the prehistoric animals including cave bears, giant elk, different mammoth types or dinosaurs (like Iguanodons, Valdosaurus or Camptosaurus). The interior courtyard is dotted by a long row of Romanian monarch busts added during the museum years.
The front courtyard is an artistic park with large old bronze and marble statues of historical figures and also home to a famous Baroque parish church erected in 1752 even before the palace, a work of the Italian architect Giovanni Battista Ricca modeled after the mother church of the
In 2003, like many other edifices, The Baroque Palace of Oradea was restored to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oradea Mare by the Government of Romania, but the building is still being used as a museum until further negotiations are made.
See also
- List of castles in Romania
- Tourism in Romania