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Founded: 16th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in Latvia
Historical period: State of the Teutonic Order (Latvia)
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Šlokenbeka Castle is a fortified manor and the only existing example of a fortified manor centre in Latvia. The construction was started by the Livonian Order before 1544. It was built in a trapeze-type yard, which was enclosed with stone walls and portholes. In 1772 the attic roofs were added to the building.
In the 17th century towers with portals and weathervanes were erected, but Šlokenbeka lost its defence function, being then adapted for domestic purposes. At the end of the 18th century new buildings were built and old buildings were renewed. New gate towers were added at the north and south walls. Between 1841 and 1845, a new manor house in classicist style was built at the north wall. In the 1930s Šlokenbeka lost some of its buildings. During Soviet times it housed the 5th road maintenance unit. Now it contains the Latvian Road Construction History Museum and a restaurant.
References:Built around AD 90 to entertain the legionaries stationed at the fort of Caerleon (Isca), the impressive amphitheatre was the Roman equivalent of today’s multiplex cinema. Wooden benches provided seating for up to 6,000 spectators, who would gather to watch bloodthirsty displays featuring gladiatorial combat and exotic wild animals.
Long after the Romans left, the amphitheatre took on a new life in Arthurian legend. Geoffrey of Monmouth, the somewhat imaginative 12th-century scholar, wrote in his History of the Kings of Britain that Arthur was crowned in Caerleon and that the ruined amphitheatre was actually the remains of King Arthur’s Round Table.
Today it is the most complete Roman amphitheatre in Britain.