The ruins
Mossy walls.
Marrx — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marrx — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marrx — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ivo Kruusamägi — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ivo Kruusamägi — CC BY-SA 4.0
Krimulda Castle is a 14th-century castle ruin just outside Sigulda, in the Vidzeme region north-east of Riga. It stands on the high right bank of the Gauja River inside Gauja National Park, next to a classical manor house and its park. In the 13th century the left bank of the Gauja belonged to the Brothers of the Sword and the right bank to the Archbishop of Riga. The castle belonged to the Riga High Council, twelve senior priests who advised the archbishop. Built on the edge of a steep bank that made it almost impossible to take, it was destroyed in a war in 1601. You see broken stone walls covered in moss and plants among tall oaks and limes in green woodland. Dirt paths wind around the ruins, near the manor stands a Swiss-style wooden house with carved balconies, and from the edge you look over the Gauja valley. It is about 2.5 km from central Sigulda in a straight line, and many visitors arrive by the cable car over the river. The ruins are free to visit.
Mossy walls.
Carved balconies.
From the edge.
Near Sigulda, Gauja National Park, Latvia
The Riga High Council of twelve senior priests.
From Sigulda by the cable car over the river, or by road.
