The round tower
Massive brown stone.
Zairon — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zairon — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zairon — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zairon — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zairon — CC BY-SA 4.0
Cēsis Castle is among the best known and best preserved medieval castles in Latvia, in the centre of the town of Cēsis. The Livonian Brothers of the Sword began it 800 years ago, and it became a key administrative and economic centre of the Teutonic Order in Livonia. Today it is the town's most visited site and a main destination in the Baltic states, with its round stone towers. In 1206 the local people allied with the crusaders, and work on the stone castle began about 1213. In 1237 it passed to the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order, becoming a square castle around a courtyard and the seat of the Landmeister. The army of Ivan the Terrible besieged it in 1577, and it fell out of use after the Great Northern War. You cross a timber bridge towards two round towers of brown stone, one with a dark conical cap, joined by walls open to the sky. Inside are arches, stairs, passages and a vaulted ceiling patterned in red brick. From the top of a tower you see the park, a small lake and the town's roofs, and a nearby mound holds an old hillfort among trees that colour in autumn. It is 81 km in a straight line from Riga and 30 km from Sigulda Castle, so you can combine them. The stairs are narrow and steep, so take care with children. Do not climb the broken walls, and wear suitable shoes.
Massive brown stone.
The way into the ruins.
Patterned red brick.
Central Cēsis, northern Latvia
Yes in parts, though the stairs are narrow and steep.
Yes, and you can combine it with Sigulda.