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!
So much fun!
ReplyDelete(I know I'm a cad for saying so, but I wish it were all a different color; I'm not at all fond of pinkish buildings/structures....)
That loggia Stefan, and then the fabulous domed room, thank you for sharing!!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena
Stefan,
ReplyDeleteLove this post, in the first photo of the Turkish Pavilion with its reflection in the water it's sheer captured beauty.
The walled loggia with the exquisite brick floor in my mind's eye I see one day filmed in a movie. The domed ceiling is sensational. Neil brings the essence of far away places and his photography captivates. Thanks for this wonderful share.
xo,
Vera
Hi, Stefan,
ReplyDeleteI like your comparison of this architecture to Chinoiserie. To carry it one step further, I've often thought that the 18th-century European conception of the Native American actually looked a little like a bejeweled Middle Easterner!
Do you have a photo of the bathing pavilion? I imagine it looked a bit like a Turkish bath... all tiled and steamy.
ReplyDeleteLike Mark I think you are onto something with your characterisation of 'Turkish chinoiserie'. The architecture of this delightful fantasy Turkish building reminds me of the 'Chinese' supper boxes at Vauxhall pleasure gardens in London, with the same use of vaguely Gothic, vaguely exotic detailing: http://bit.ly/1vIIiAp
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late response everyone!
ReplyDeleteStephilius I agree that the pink is an unfortunate color -but I guess it's the original based on the huge restoration just conducted?
Mark I never thought of it but you're so right. Kind of the horrific "they all look the same to me" type thing.
Hels - look at the links to my other posts (a few weeks ago) - nothing else is "Turkish" like this but it's all fabulous!!
Emile, thanks for the link to the Vauxhall pleasure gardens, I knew nothing about them! They're so similar as to be somewhat ODDLY similar. I wonder if they were influences in one direction?
My goodness, it's magical.
ReplyDeletepve