Jaunpils Castle

Jaunpils, Latvia

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:

Comments

Your name


Address

P104, Jaunpils, Latvia
See all sites in Jaunpils

Details

Founded: 1301
Category: Castles and fortifications in Latvia
Historical period: State of the Teutonic Order (Latvia)

More Information

www.jaunpilspils.lv
en.wikipedia.org
www.latvia.travel
www.pilis.lv

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Slokenbeka Castle (29,9 km)
Kandava Castle Ruins (37 km)
Tukums Castle Tower (27,3 km)
Dobele Castle Ruins (19,5 km)
Durbe Manor (28,3 km)
Aizupe Manor (33,8 km)
Nurmuiza Castle (57,4 km)
Tervete Hill Fort (35,5 km)
Cere Manor (43 km)

User Reviews

Kristina Daukšienė (7 months ago)
You should visit and take excursion!! Very very rare time to get such a pleasure, so much laugh and feeling that you will remember a lot what was said..even the story mainly was not about dates and names! And for coordinators of this palace and tourism in Jaunpils, please put direction signs on the road for castle!! How it could be that any km before castle you will not find any sign about this beauty!
Māris Kalniņš (14 months ago)
It was definitely worth it. Me and my wife decided to stay in the baron's room, it was an amazing experience. The food in the tavern was very delicious, good looking and affordable. The only negative thing was the fire alarm that turned on for another room and then the whole castle/hotel, we had to wait for more than 30 minutes for someone to arrive to turn it off. Who knows, maybe it was the famous ghost who turned it on.
Kasper J (16 months ago)
The tavern used to have an authentic, medieval inspired menu, sadly it’s much more generic now. Still a nice place to stop by.
Anastasia Tokareva (20 months ago)
Jaunpils Castle was built in 1301 as a Livonian Order castle, surrounded by a moat on three sides, and initially inhabited by small groups of knights. The Knights ’Castle surprises visitors with its might and the Medieval aura still present there.
Madara Ceriņa (2 years ago)
Amazing castle, great guides who makes the excursion interesting and fun. There are huge variety of excursions available depending from your preferences, also dressovers available and romantic excursions for weddings or couples. In Medieval tavern located in the yard you can enjoy amazing medieval style meals fir reasonable prices, big portions. Stunning place!!! near by are craft workshops, Katvaru nature trails and also old mill.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

House of the Dragon Filming Locations
Photo from Flickr, copyright joiseyshowaa

Historic Site of the week

Broch of Gurness

The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.

The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.

The site is surrounded by three ditches cut out of the rock with stone ramparts, encircling an area of around 45 metres diameter. The remains of numerous small stone dwellings with small yards and sheds can be found between the inner ditch and the tower. These were built after the tower, but were a part of the settlement's initial conception. A 'main street' connects the outer entrance to the broch. The settlement is the best-preserved of all broch villages.

Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.

At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.

In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.

Map Top Sights Tags Historical Periods City Guides About Us Sign Up Upload new site
© 2022 SpottingHistory.com. All rights reserved.