Turkish Pavilion at Schwetzingen

 Located in the gardens of the Schwetzingen Palace complex (along with the Bathing Pavilion and the Temple of Apollo of which I've blogged) is an unusual structure referred to as the Turkish Pavilion.

Designed by French architect Nicolas de Pigage in 1779, the Pavilion was completed two years later and has recently been totally restored and opened to the public.

Designed primarily as a backdrop to the gardens where concerts were held, the building was later sometimes used by the Islamic community as a Mosque.

A large walled loggia surrounds the concert lawn with interesting Turkish inspired detailing.

The building is strictly European with many sort of "Turkish" bits glued on and the end result is totally of its' time. Think of this as Turkish Chinoiserie; not quite a copy but a European version of the original.

 The details such as the arches look almost Gothic in parts.

 The gardens are in the beautiful English style.

 Notice the brick floor patterns of the loggia.

 The Pavilion does have a small interior and again no detail was over looked.

 Beautiful carved stone is classically European with nods to the Turkish style.

The centerpiece is a large room rising up through the room with a gorgeous domed ceiling allowing light to flood inside.

 The polychromed work is playful without being too over the top.

 Many thanks as always to Neil for providing these luscious photographs to inspire us!