List of castles in Latvia

This is the List of castles in Latvia, which includes fortified residences of Western European conquerors built in the area of present-day Latvia before the 17th century. There are about 140 medieval castles in the area, therefore this list is not complete. After the name of the castle comes the year of construction and a short description of its present-day condition.

Table of contents

Courland
Name Town Districts Established Status Notes Refs
Aizpute South Kurzeme End of the 13th century Ruins
Alsunga Kuldīga Before 1341 Preserved In use
Dundaga Talsi Late 13th century Preserved In use
Ēdole Kuldīga From 1264 to 1267 Preserved In use
Embūte South Kurzeme Around 1265 Ruins Walls stand up to 7 meters high
Grobiņa South Kurzeme 1253 Ruins A wooden castle before 1265
Lauciene Talsi Around 1598 Preserved Under reconstruction
Piltene Ventspils End of the 13th century Ruins
Ventspils Ventspils city Before 1290 Preserved In use

Zemgale
Name Town Parish Established Status Notes Refs
Bauska Bauska Built after 1443 Under reconstruction Medieval part in ruins and Renaissance part reconstructed
Dobele Dobele From 1335 to 1359 Impressive ruins
Jaunpils Tukums 1301 Preserved In use
Pilsrundāle Bauska 1768, museum opened in 1963 Preserved In use
Milzkalne Tukums Built before 1544 Preserved and transformed In use [1]

Vidzeme
Name Town Parish Established Status Notes Refs
Aizkraukle Aizkraukle Second half of the 14th century Ruins Walls standing up to 5 meters high
Alūksne Alūksne Around 1342 Ruins Walls higher than 5 meters high
Burtnieki Valmiera Built before 1366 Ruins Walls up to 4 meters high
Cēsis Cēsis Around 1213-1218 Impressive ruins
Daugavgrīva Rīga 1208 Only earthen ramparts
Gaujiena Smiltene Around 1236-1238 Ruins Walls standing higher than 10 meters
Koknese Aizkraukle Around 1210 Impressive ruins
Krimulda Sigulda Middle of the 13th century Ruins
Straupe Cēsis End of the 13th century Preserved In use
Lielvārde Ogre Built before 1248 Ruins
  • Uldevena wooden castle
 Lielvārde Lielvārde Ogre Built before 1213 Reconstructed
Rauna Rauna Built before 1381 Impressive ruins
Riga Rīga Built in the 1340s Preserved In use
Salacgrīva Limbaži Built in 1226 Ruins Barely visible [2]
Sigulda Sigulda From 1207 to 1209 Impressive ruins
Turaida Sigulda Built in 1214 Partly reconstructed
Dole island Salaspils Built before 1226 Ruins Barely visible
Vecpiebalga Cēsis Built before 1318 Ruins Walls standing up to 6 metres high

Latgale
Name Town Parish Established Status Notes Refs
East of Daugavpils Augšdaugava Around 1273-1277 Excavated and exposed ruins
Jēkabpils Jēkabpils Second half of the 13th century Preserved In use
Ludza Ludza Built in the 14th century Impressive ruins
Viļaka Balvi End of the 15th century Ruins Stone castle after 1516
Rēzekne Rēzekne Built before 1324 Ruins [3][4]

See also

Additional information

References
  1. Zarāns, Alberts (2006). Latvijas pilis un muižas. Castles and manors of Latvia (in Latvian and English). Riga. ISBN 9984-785-05-X. OCLC 72358861.
  2. Gertrud Westermann (1990). Baltisches historisches Ortslexikon (in German). Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar. pp. 538–. ISBN 978-3-412-06889-9. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  3. Saul Bernard Cohen (2008). The Columbia Gazetteer of the World: P to Z. Columbia University Press. p. 3185. ISBN 978-0-231-14554-1.
  4. Ellen Chivers Davies (1937). A wayfarer in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. R.M. McBride & company. p. 160.

Sources
  • Zarāns, Alberts (2006). Latvijas pilis un muižas. Castles and manors of Latvia (in Latvian and English). Riga. ISBN 9984-785-05-X. OCLC 72358861.
  • Ose, I. (2004). Latvijas 12. gadsimta beigu - 17. gadsimta vācu piļu leksikons (in Latvian). Riga.
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