Radziwiłł Palace in Vilnius St.

The Radziwiłł family owned this plot as early as the beginning of the 16th century. It is known that in this place, just behind the city wall, Mikołaj “the Black” Radziwiłł owned his renaissance style residence, which had been often characterized by Vilnans as one of the most beautiful palaces in the city.

However, the beauty of this palace suffered greatly from the wars in the middle of the 17th and 18th centuries. At the beginning of the 19th century, Dominik Hieronim Radziwiłł donated the former palace to the Vilnius Charity Society.

Without a doubt, during its golden times, this palace had most of the attributes that the ruler’s palace had. Entertainment was one of them. In the Late Middle Ages and throughout the Early Modern Period, the most influential magnates followed the popular European trend of hiring jesters and dwarfs. In doing so, they were following the example of the royal court. Learn more about jesters and dwarfs in Vilnius by clicking this link. 

Address: Vilniaus St. 22