Jaunpils Castle was erected in 1301 by the Master of the German branch of the Livonian Order, Gottfried von Roga. The tower was added in the 15th century. The castle was heavily damaged in war by Swedes in 1625. Later a third floor was added and the old fortress became a manor with all conveniences in the end of the 17th century. The building was partly reconstructed in 18th century. The castle was burned down during the Russian Revolution of 1905. A year later it was rebuilt by architect Wilhelm Bockslaff.
From the 16th century until 1920 the castle belonged to the family of the Baltic German baron von der Recke. One of the family members who lived there in the 18th century was the poet Elisa von der Recke. After the Latvian agrarian reforms of 1920s, the castle complex housed a cattle-breeding experimental station. During the Soviet occupation of Latvia, the interior of the castle was heavily reconstructed and today Jaunpils castle has typical Soviet interiors from the 1960s. More of a manor house than properly a fortified castle, it has now been converted into a hotel.
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.