Latvia: Castles and Manors, History and Legends

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Latvia is home to unique castles, fortresses, and palaces built centuries ago, which tell the story of the state, its architecture, and its inhabitants over the centuries. There used to be more than 150 of them; now there are almost three times fewer. They are romantic and brutal, ancient and medieval, ruined and restored. Ivan Lazhechnikov wrote about Latvian castles in his novel "The Last Novik": "You still look at the castles of Livonia as representatives of its feudal life, wild and romantic. They are veterans of a once famous and now non-existent army, veterans, battered, already paying tribute to time and falling into eternal sleep on their broken trophies. They also had their great time. Wake them up, question them with patience and respect due to their gray hairs and merits—and they, in the eloquent babble of infantile old age, will tell you wonders of the long past; and the gigantic shadows of their commanders, listening from the dust to words of honor and beauty, will rise before you formidable, clad from head to toe in iron, ready, at the slightest doubt about their greatness, to throw you a clanging gauntlet, on which you can still see splashes of the dried blood of their enemies." Since the first castle appeared on Latvian soil, more than 30 generations have passed. By the chronology of how castles and fortresses appeared and were destroyed, one can get an idea of the process of conquering the local lands. And by the appearance of the buildings, one can learn about the tastes of their patrons, among whom were the Livonian Order, bishops, feudal lords, and the nobility of the 19th century.

Jermaine