Description of the attraction
The castle of the Livonian Order, or rather its ruins, is located in the city of Valmiera, on the right bank of the Gauja River, at the confluence of the Ratsupe River, about fifty meters northeast of the Lutheran Church of St. Siman.
According to the assumptions of historians, at the beginning of the 13th century, the Latgalian castle of Autine was located at the mouth of the Ratsupe River. Around 1208, Varidotis ruled here. His possessions were an integral part of the ancient territory of Talava. The inhabitants of these lands professed Orthodoxy and paid tribute to the Pskov princes.
In 1224 the lands of the Latgalians were conquered, divided, and the Valmiera region became the property of the Livonian Order. Researchers assume that the castle was built here after 1224. According to another version, the castle was erected in 1283 by the master of the order Williken from Endorp (Schauerburg). The castle itself is not mentioned in the historical sketches of the 13th century.
At the beginning of the 14th century, a settlement appeared near the castle, which had common defense structures with the castle. Later, the castle was often mentioned in chronicles, because important events often happened here.
In 1560, when the Livonian War began, the castle was surrounded by the troops of Ivan the Terrible, but they failed to take it. In 1577, the castle was again surrounded by Russian troops, who this time managed to capture it. During the retreat, the castle was partially destroyed.
After the Polish-Swedish war, in 1600-1629, the castle belonged to the Swedes. In the second half of the 17th century, the castle was fortified, earthen ramparts were poured and bastions were built. In 1702, during the Great Northern War, Valmiera Castle was occupied by the troops of Peter I. The castle was burnt down and was never rebuilt.
The castle was erected on the right bank of the Gauja River, at the mouth of the Ratsupe River, on the site of the Latgale castle. In the lower reaches of the Ratsupe River, there was a mill lake covering the approaches to the castle from the north and east. The Gauja River flowed from the southern side. And from the west a vast moat 30 meters wide and 6 meters deep was built. He divided the castle and the settlement. The main castle and the ante-castle were 100 meters long and 30-50 meters wide. In plan, it is an irregular quadrangle. The fortress wall was erected, corresponding to the local relief, and reached a thickness of 2.25 meters. Residential and office premises were located along the walls. At the corners of the antechamber there were 2 watchtowers. We entered the territory of the castle through the settlement and the ante-castle, and a drawbridge over the moat led to the main castle.
A defensive moat and small fragments of the northwestern, western and southwestern city walls have survived to this day from the defensive part of the city. And on the territory of the castle you can see the buildings of the 18th – 19th centuries, which were the core of the small historical center of Valmiera.
Some historical legends have reached our time, which say that the crusaders forced the inhabitants of Valmiera region to collect huge stones from cult pagan places for the construction of the castle. They say that the stones glow at night in these parts. The boulders keep in memory the time when the knights forced the Baltic tribes to transfer stone watchmen-giants from the cult places where people made sacrifices to the gods for the construction of the castle. For this, the pagan gods took revenge on the inhabitants of the castle. Here, troubles and misfortunes constantly happened. People died of incomprehensible diseases, committed suicide, and when the face of a man from the other world appeared from the darkness, they went crazy and threw themselves from the walls into the ditch. Also, the legend says that the first crusader, who ordered to drag stones from pagan places, died a terrible death. Also, during the construction of Valmiera Castle, they drove around the territory with barrels and took milk from local residents, and it did not matter how many cows they had. And this was done in order to knead lime in milk, which is why the old masonry is so strong.
The ruins of the Valmiera Order Castle and the remains of the medieval town fortification near the Gauja are reminders of the center of Valmiera from the 13th century to the present day.
