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Founded: 14th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in Latvia
Historical period: State of the Teutonic Order (Latvia)
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Nurmuiža Castle walls date from the 14th century castle built by the Livonian Order. The castle was erected in the 16th-17th centuries, less as a fortification, more as an economic centre. At the same time a passable tower was built, too, in the 19th century decorated in the Empire style. In the centre of the castle there is a small yard. The windows of the main facade have ornamental sgraffito framings in mannerism. In the castle the building structure of a fortified castle is combined with details characteristic of classicism.
The castle was rebuilt both at the end of the 17th century and shortly before World War I (according to the project by the architect W. Bockslaff). Since the last reconstruction the building has retained interiors in neoclassicism, as well as mural and ceiling paintings.The complex of the manor represents buildings erected in the 17th-19th centuries when the manor belonged to the von Fircks. In the courtyard there is a memorial stone (1982) to the developers of the Latvian carriage horse breed.
At the castle there is a park that was started to lay out in the 17th century, with two ponds, chestnut tree lined pathways and about 22 exotic species of trees and shrubbery.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.