The use of woody plants in Estonian and Livonian manor ensembles during the second half of the 17th century

Abstract

Not much is known about the 17th-century Estonian and Livonian landscape architecture. Most of the information is based on the descriptions found in historical archival and literary sources and on some of the well-known engravings. According to these, a common idea of that era's landscape architecture is that it was humble in scale and design, and was similar to the practice of late-medieval times when there was no space or ambition to grow woody plants in small gardens of castles. But when diving into the Swedish manor plans dating back to the last decades of the 17th century, it can be noted that the layouts of manorial hearts are inherent to the spatial design of early baroque, which is characterized by a landscape that has strongly been redesigned and includes a decorative garden, kitchen garden and a park. This article focuses on the spatial composition of Estonian and Livonian manor parks of the second half of the 17th century and observes the role of trees and their use in these landscapes. This article is based on the results of a study about the planning of baroque manor hearts Understanding the Role of 18th Century Estonian Manor Ensembles in Contemporary Planning and Conservation (Eesti 18. sajandi mõisaansamblid 21. sajandi maastikuplaneerimises: avastamine, mõistmine, tõlgendamine) which was carried out by the author of this article. The map analysis results deal with the spatial structure of manor ensembles and the observations made during the analysis. The article examines the possible ways of using woody plants in 17th-century Estonian manors while looking at the manor ensemble as an architectonic of early baroque. Based on the research results it can be said that by the last decades of the 17th century the wealthiest manors had already built manor hearts with a modest but a clearly baroque style layout which is characterized by a regular and symmetrical ensemble core, a garden axially connected to the main building and avenues heading into the landscape. This type of approach enables to broaden the common conception of the era's garden and park architecture in the manor hearts of Estonia and Livonia. Based on what is highlighted in the article it can be said that the tradition and practice of garden art that has shaped the image of Estonian landscape had already been developed by the end of the 17th century.