List of castles in Latvia

Last updated October 14, 2024

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.

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

Zemgale

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

Vidzeme

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

Latgale

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

Additional information

Related Research Articles

Stende Manor, also called Dižstende Manor, is a manor house in Lībagi Parish in Talsi Municipality in the historical region of Courland, in western Latvia.

Dunalka Manor is a manor house with surrounding complex of buildings in Dunalka, Dunalka Parish, South Kurzeme Municipality, in the historical region of Courland, in western Latvia.

Pastende Manor is a manor house in the historical region of Courland, in western Latvia. Originally built in 1700, it was remodeled between 1780 and 1800. Since 1945 the building has housed the Pastende primary school.

Vaiņode Manor was a manor house in Vaiņode Parish, South Kurzeme Municipality in the Courland region of Latvia.

Laidi Palace is a palace in Laidi parish in Kuldīga municipality in the historical region of Courland, in western Latvia. Built in the early 19th century, it has housed the Laidi primary school since 1921.

Pope Palace is a palace in Pope parish, an administrative unit of the Ventspils municipality in the historical region of Courland, in western Latvia. It was originally built in 1653 for the von Behr family, but was extensively remodeled in 1720 and 1840. Since 1920 the building has housed the Pope primary school.

Vērgale Palace is a palace in Vērgale Parish, South Kurzeme Municipality, in the Courland region of Latvia. Originally built in the 18th century, it was remodeled for the owner Baron von Behr in 1837. The building currently houses the Vērgale school.

Kaucminde Manor is a manor house, also referred to as a palace due to its design, in the historical region of Zemgale, in Latvia.

Zaļā Manor is a manor house in the historical region of Courland, in Vilgāle, Kurmāle Parish, Kuldīga Municipality, Latvia. It serves as the student boarding residence for the Vilgāle primary school.

Dzimtmisa Manor is a manor in Dzimtmisa, Iecava Municipality in the historical region of Zemgale, in Latvia.

Beļava Manor is a manor house in Pilskalns, Beļava Parish, Gulbene Municipality, in historical region of Vidzeme, in northern Latvia.

Cirsti Manor is a two-storey manor house built in 1886 in Neo-Gothic red brick style in the historical region of Vidzeme, northern Latvia.

Jaungulbene Manor is a manor house in the historical region of Vidzeme, in northern Latvia. It was built in Tudor neo-Gothic style and completed in 1878. In the 1920s Jaungulbene Manor was nationalized in accordance with Latvian Land Reform of 1920. From 1927 until the 1990s the building housed an agricultural school.

Igate Manor is a manor in the historical region of Vidzeme, in northern Latvia. It was designed by architect Rudolf Heinrich Zirkwitz. In the 1920s Igate Manor was nationalized in accordance with Latvian Land Reform of 1920.

Katvari Manor is a manor house in Katvari, Katvari Parish, Limbaži Municipality, in the historical region of Vidzeme, in northern Latvia.

Sērmūkši Manor was a manor house in Cēsis Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It was burned down in 1905 and never rebuilt.

Veselava Manor is a manor house in the historical region of Vidzeme, in northern Latvia.

Burtnieki Castle is a castle in Burtnieki Parish, Valmiera Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It was built on the south shore of Lake Burtnieks for the Livonian Order around 1284.

Mālpils Manor is a manor house in the historical region of Vidzeme, in northern Latvia.

Vecgulbene Manor was a manor in the historical region of Vidzeme, eastern Latvia.

References

↑ Zarāns, Alberts (2006). Latvijas pilis un muižas. Castles and manors of Latvia (in Latvian and English). Riga. ISBN 9984-785-05-X. OCLC 72358861.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Gertrud Westermann (1990). Baltisches historisches Ortslexikon (in German). Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar. pp. 538–. ISBN 978-3-412-06889-9 . Retrieved 17 August 2012.
↑ Saul Bernard Cohen (2008). The Columbia Gazetteer of the World: P to Z. Columbia University Press. p. 3185. ISBN 978-0-231-14554-1.
↑ 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Ose, I. (2004). Latvijas 12. gadsimta beigu - 17. gadsimta vācu piļu leksikons (in Latvian). Riga.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links

Ambermarks - Medieval castles of Latvia - list

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[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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[Westermann1990-2] Gertrud Westermann (1990). Baltisches historisches Ortslexikon (in German). Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar. pp. 538–. ISBN 978-3-412-06889-9 . Retrieved 17 August 2012.

[Cohen2008-3] Saul Bernard Cohen (2008). The Columbia Gazetteer of the World: P to Z. Columbia University Press. p. 3185. ISBN 978-0-231-14554-1.

[Davies1937-4] Ellen Chivers Davies (1937). A wayfarer in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. R.M. McBride & company. p. 160.

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List of castles in Latvia

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