Dobele Castle Ruins, Dobele, Latvia

The Livonian Order's stone castle is the oldest building in Dobele, and a national architectural monument. It was built on the site of an ancient Semigallian timber fortress from 1335 to 1339. A church was built and a park was laid out later.

This land hosted a settlement of Dobele's most ancient inhabitants – the Semigallians as early as 1000 years B.C. Surrounded by the ancient town, there stood a timber fortress, one of the administrative centres of ancient Semigallians. The castle has been mentioned several times in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle telling about the 13th century battles between the locals and the German crusader knights. Between 1279 and 1289, Dobele castle withstood six enemy attacks. In 1289, the Semigallians burnt down their fortress and left, undefeated, for Rakte in Lithuania.

Until 1562, the castle was headquarters for the chief of the garrison and also the Komtur, commander of the district. During the period of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, several commanders were in charge of the castle, the last one being Christoph Georg von Ofenberg. After 1729, the castle built by the Order was abandoned and gradually fell in ruins. Works for the conservation of the ruins started were launched in 2002.

References:

Latvia Travel

User Reviews

Juris Apinis (3 years ago)
Cool place, definitely recommend to visit

Floris R (3 years ago)
Good condition, makes for a nice stop along the road.

Anna Kanavins (3 years ago)
Unique Historical Dobelē castle ruins...goes back centuries

Rokas Rožickas (3 years ago)
Accidentally stopped here during our trip and found perfect place to recover after few hours in a car. Castle runs are very tidy, lot of places to hide and think about majesty of castles. Nearby you can find few fountains in river Bērze and pond, also beautiful idea to show their cost of arms.

Irina Belecka (3 years ago)
Cool old place. Probably one of a few you should visit in Dobele.

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