Legends of medieval castles of Latvia

Grobiņa Castle Ruins

The castle was built in the middle of the 13^th century. It was a Convent type castle, the governor’s seat and the supporting point on the way to Prussia; During the Kurland Dukedom it had a residential character. The castle was destroyed in the 18^th century. Several tales are connected with the castle: both about the underground paths and an unhappy love and a knight’s daughter being built in the walls. Different important men have visited the castle such as the duke Jacob, the Prussian King Fredrick Wilhelm III, the Swedish King Charles XII. Grobiņa.

Aizpute Castle Ruins

In the 13^th century on the bank of the navigating River Tebra at that time, there used to be a Kursu castle at the Prussia- Riga road. The conquerors built the Kurland Bishopric Castle instead of that, but on the opposite bank The Livonia Order Castle, which is still preserved partially. The stories tell that an underground path used to link the Middle Ages castle with the Franciscan’s women’s convent.

Dundaga Castle

A Baron of Dundaga castle was friendly with elves. He allowed the elves to have parties and celebrate in his castle. One condition of the elves was to be left alone at their parties. Once, the King of elves celebrated his wedding in the castle. The Baron's sister noticed a light and heard music in the hall of the castle. She went to see what all the commotion was about. She knew that it was prohibited to interfere while the elves partied. Her curiosity could very well mean a death sentence for her. She believed that the elves would not discover her, but they did, and the King of the elves ordered that the Baron's sister, who was wearing a green dress, be buried alive behind the walls of the castle. Since that time, the Green Baroness haunts Dundaga castle.

Durbe Castle Ruins

They started to build the castle in about 1263 to protect the road Livonia- Prussia. It is built on an artificially made hill. The castle was destroyed during the Poles- Swedes and Northern wartime. On the castle hill in an oak tree there is a sign made in 1990 to memorize the Durbe battles. At the same time there is a memorial stone brought from Lithuania.

Durbe battle took place at the River Trumpe. On the right bank of the river there were about 4 thousand Zemaitians, on the left bank at least five times bigger Livonia Order army. When the battle began, the locals didn’t attack Zemaitians, but the order army and destroyed it completely. About 20 thousand men were killed on the field. In the centre of Durbe there is the Durbe Lutheran Church and at the church you will find a monument put up to memorize the deportation victims.

Ludza, Rezekne & Vilaka Castles

After the death of Volkenberg, the owner of the castle, his daughters Roze, Lucija and Marija got rich inheritance and it was divided among them. Each sister built a castle on the inherited land. Roze was the first to built it and called it "Rezekne", then Lucija built "Ludza" and Marija built "Vilaka". Up to now Roze is sitting on the gold throne in the underground kingdom of Rezekne castle. She is guarded by two fierce watch dogs. One dog on a gold chaim is on the right and the other on a silver chaim is on the left. Every 9 years at Easter Roze leaves her underground kingdom to find a young man who could free her from curse. An order to do that it is necessary to take her gold cross and sprinkle it with sanctified Easter water. Many young men tried to do it but evil forces prevented them from doing it. If somebody wasn't frightened, the cross became too heavy and the road to the church seemed unattainable. Young men couldn't pass this trial and used to throw the cross down. At this moment low crying was heard and the princess returned to her underground kingdom for the following 9 years.

Swedish Gate in Priekule

It is the former Priekule Manor House gate (1688). The main function of the gate was to control the trade road to Lithuania and collect the tax for the Baron Korf. Legends tell us about the valuables built in the gate and the underground paths there. Not far from that there is the manor tower built in the 19^th century. At this moment there is a school in the tower. The renewed Priekule Church, which is connected with the tale about Priekule’s Ikars, is near.