Kadriorg Palace and Art Museum

Italian master architect Niccolo Michetti designed this magnificent, Northern Baroque palace in 1718 at the request of Russian Tsar Peter the Great, who intended to use it as a summer residence for the royal family. The emperor named the estate for his wife Catherine I ('Catherine' is 'Kadri' in Estonian), hence the name of the area. The palace is now home to the Kadriorg Art Museum. In addition to perusing the nation's collection of foreign art, visitors get to see the mind-bogglingly ornate Great Hall, and the room upstairs that served as president's office in the 1930s. Don't miss the lavish manicured gardens, out back.