The construction of the palace was initiated by the Russian Tsarina Anna Ivanovna; it was to serve as the summer residence of the Kurland duke Ernest Johann Biron. The Russian-Italian architect and master builder at the Tsar's court Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli, who had already drawn up the plans for the Winter Palace of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, was commissioned with the design. The foundation stone was laid in 1735, the construction work initially lasted until 1740. In 1739 elements of the Frederician rococo were adopted (highlight: rose room; woodwork by Johann Baptist Eger). The castle park was also laid out in the French style according to Rastrelli's specifications and planted with 328,185 linden trees (gardener: Christopher Weiland). Biron only used the castle for three years, as he was exiled to Siberia after the death of Tsarina Anna (1740). Biron was only able to return to Courland in 1763 when Tsarina Catherine II took power in 1762. Between 1763 and 1768 construction work was carried out on the castle again; especially the interior was finished. The interiors were designed by the St. Petersburg-based Italian Baroque painters Francesco Martini and Carlo Zucchi, who had previously worked in Dresden and St. Petersburg, and the Berlin sculptor Johann Michael Graff. After Biron's death, his son, Duke Peter von Biron, used the castle until 1795. After the Duchy of Courland and Zemgale had been annexed by the Russian Empire in 1795 and the ducal house of Biron von Curland had been financially settled, the Tsarina handed over the castle to her favorite Count Zubov. Through him, the building received traits of Russian classicism. Previously, Peter von Biron had the largest part of the inventory created on his estates in Bohemia and Lower Silesia. Later the castle came into the possession of the Shuvalov family. In 1915 the German army set up a military hospital in the castle and in 1919 it was devastated by political uprisings. As part of the Latvian agrarian reform, the castle, which had been damaged after the First World War, was expropriated in 1920 and became the property of the Latvian state. Apartments and a primary school were set up in the buildings. In 1933 it was handed over to the Latvian History Museum and some renovations were started. Rundāle survived the Second World War externally undamaged, but in the post-war years it was used as a granary, and a large part of the valuable interior furnishings perished with it. In 1972 the Rundāle Castle Museum was founded and extensive restoration work started (Wikipedia).
And your physical well-being is also well taken care of: don't miss the cafe in the basement (towards the entrance to the castle park) which offers not only typical local delicacies but also copper engravings to admire on the walls. If you like, you can also book this location for parties.