Ludza Castle Ruins

About this place

Ludza Castle is a medieval Gothic castle in the centre of the small town of Ludza in eastern Latgale, Latvia, about 104 km northeast of Daugavpils in a straight line. It stands beside a Catholic church on the site of an old Latgalian wooden fort. The castle is first mentioned in 1433, when the Livonian Order built a larger and stronger stone fortress to replace the earlier wooden one. The stone castle had three storeys, six towers and three gates, and was built as an outpost on Livonia's eastern border to guard trade routes. Impressive sections of its walls still stand, including one three storeys high; the ruins are the main attraction of the Ludza district and a symbol of the town. Remains of walls in red brick and fieldstone stand on a green hill, with arched openings looking out over two wide lakes on either side, and the white church towers and wooden rooftops of the town appear between them. Visitors climb stone steps up the hill, wander among the ruins and look out over the lakes through gaps in the walls. The visit pairs well with Ludza's old wooden houses and the lakeshores.