The white front
Small towers and pointed roofs before the lawn.
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Alatskivi Castle is a white neo-Gothic palace north of Tartu, decorated with small towers and pointed roofs, looking like a storybook castle in broad grounds. Its origins go back to the 17th century, but its present form dates from the late 19th and takes its cue from the royal residence of Balmoral in Scotland. The manor was first mentioned in 1601, and King Gustav Adolf II of Sweden gave it to his secretary Johan Adler Salvius in 1628. It passed to Hans Detterman Cronman in 1642, was bought by the Stackelbergs in 1753 and was inherited by the Nolckens in 1870. Baron Arved von Nolcken rebuilt it between 1876 and 1885 to his own designs, having visited Balmoral in 1875. After nationalisation in 1919 it served as a school, cavalry barracks, farm, offices, cinema and library, before renovation from 2005 to 2011. You arrive through an arched entrance along a road lined with linden trees, and the long white front appears beyond a green lawn. On the first floor, five rooms house the Eduard Tubin museum, devoted to the composer and conductor. The wooded park covers 130 hectares, the largest in Tartu County, with oaks, ashes and maples. The castle lies about 34.3 km from Tartu in a straight line, close to Lake Peipus. Allow time to walk the park, and check opening times in colder months.
Small towers and pointed roofs before the lawn.
Five rooms on the composer Eduard Tubin.
An approach lined with tall trees.
Lossi 6, Alatskivi, Estonia
Yes, the baron visited Balmoral in 1875 and then designed the castle under its Scottish influence.
Yes, it is about 34.3 km away in a straight line, and half a day is enough.