Sangaste Castle

About this place

Sangaste Castle stands in the village of Sangaste in Otepää Parish, Valga County, southern Estonia, about 22 km southwest of Otepää and 59 km southwest of Tartu in a straight line. It was built between 1874 and 1881 to designs by the architect Otto Pius Hippius in Neo-Gothic style with English Tudor influences, and is considered one of the finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture in the Baltic states. Its owner wanted a house inspired by English castles, and it had 99 rooms, following a custom of keeping under a hundred. The red-brick castle, with battlemented towers and Gothic windows, stands in a large park with tall trees, a big tower rising over the main entrance. Gardens and green lawns surround it, making it look like an English castle in the Estonian countryside. The castle is open to the public, and visitors tour its halls and park. It makes a stop on the road between Otepää and Valga and is often combined with the Otepää lakes.