About Sigulda and turaida

The 42-hectare territory of the Turaida Museum Reserve is rich in archaeological, architectural, historical and artistic monuments, which tell the story of events over a thousand years, beginning in the 11 th century, and is the most visited museum in Latvia. The medieval castle and church, the Livs of Gauja, the ancient centre of the estate and Mount Daines - each a story of their own. The historic centre of Turaida has developed over a thousand years. The events that have taken place in the historic centre of Turaida are closely related to the events in the history of Latvia and Europe. The Turaida Museum Reserve stores, explores and makes available to the public evidence from the cultural and historical heritage of the long centuries.

In the Turaida Museum Reserve, a new exhibition “on the way to the state of Latvia” has been opened in the house of the estate's tramplers. A clown. Master. Citizen '. The exhibition is special because the Museum Reserve has formed a common message about the stage from the abolition of the birth in Vidzeme in 1819 until the adoption of the Latvian Law on Agrarian Reform in 1920. It is a story of 100 years in the history of Latvia, when, with unrelenting work, the Latvian people become the landlord of their land, form their own national culture and finally – their own country. The exhibition is open daily from 10.00 to 18.00 and can be accessed both individually and with the museum reserve guide.

Turaida - a place its first inhabitants, the Libians, have called the garden of God. Museum Reserve buildings have exhibits that tell you the events of different periods, people's lives, positions and traditions.

The museum reserve's visual dominance is Turaida Palace – its mighty red-brick tower is also visible from several viewpoints on the opposite bank of Gauja. The mural castle for the Bishop Alberti of Riga was built in 1214, instead of the preexisting but battle-burned wooden castle of the Lebanese leader Kaupo of Turaida. Initially, the new castle was given the name Frodeland, but it was used only for a short time, and soon the Bishop's wall castle was called Turaida, as before, the Lebanese wooden castle and the surrounding county. The improvement of the castle's defence system continued in the coming centuries and, in parallel to fortifications, economic and residential buildings were built in the palace patio. As firearms developed, the palace began to lose its strategic importance. After the fire in 1776, it was no longer restored, it gradually turned into ruins. in 1976, regular archaeological research began and the preservation and reconstruction of the walls began.

The main tower, Bergfrides, is one of the oldest buildings in the castle, built in its early days. The tower was used to monitor the area and as a last refuge in the event of the castle being surrounded as well. The tower has 5 floors, with a viewing area about 30 metres high.

The Western Corps, a building on the castle's western defence wall, was built in the 15 th century. So called the new hall. After the 16 th century, it was also used as a grain storage facility. The outer volume of the building has remained until today. It has a basement and three floors, with exposition on the history of the Turaida Palace, the ancient Turaida municipality and the fate of the castle in the Archdiocese of Riga. The large semi-circular tower on the western side of the castle was built in the 15 th century as a defence and cannon tower, according to the methods and principles typical of medieval Europe. In the basement of the tower there is a castle prison, and the original walls have been preserved, where the connection points of the prisoners' shackles were found during the study. The tower-shaped southern hull was built in the 13 th century with the aim of protecting access to the castle's central courtyard from the south front.

Turaida Tree Church is one of the oldest wooden churches in Latvia. It was built in 1750. The house of worship is on Baznickalns, an ancient church building site. In the middle of the Baznickalns, a giant two-sail lime grows, planted next to the grave of Virgin Maya (1601-1620). Archaeological research suggests at least two churches were at the site before then. Construction of a new house of worship is under way during Pastor Daniel Merkel's time at Turaida estate after the Great Northern War, when the previous Church of Turaida was destroyed. There have been no major rebuilds at Turaida Church over time. in 2009-2010, the church was restored to historical technologies and the experience and skills of ancient craftsmen, for example using birch Tysis for insulation material, with the church facade making colour from rye flour cleaver with red ochre pigment. The church looks what it was when it was built.

Turaida Manor has started to form as part of the temples of the medieval castle and developed with the castle. Over the centuries, the estate's farm expanded. Starting in the first half of the 18 th century, the manor buildings began to be built outside the castle – near roads, fields and pastures. Only the manor owner's residential building and some farm buildings remained in the castle grounds. Until today, 21 buildings have remained, some of them more than 200 years old. Visitors have the opportunity to visit the estate manager's old and new living house, sauna, chisel, manure, fish cellar, basement, wheelhouse, pitch house and more. There is an opportunity to see the work and lifestyle of Latvian farmers on the estate farm.

One of the symbols of the recognition of the Turaida Museum Reserve is Mount Dainu – the sculpture garden is dedicated to Latvian folklore. It was created in 1985 in honor of Krishiani Baron, the most prominent collector and compiler of folk songs. Mount Dainu is one of the symbols of the awakening. Several summers every Saturday and Sunday, thousands of folklore clusters met in Turaida to express their attitude to what was happening, to honor the past of the Latvian people, and to build their strengths and beliefs for the future. In this park, the 26 stone sculptures made by sculptor Indulis Ranka's hands, harmonized with the unrepeatable magnificence of nature, create a special atmosphere. The sculptures express the poeia of the Daines - based on universal human values - love, honour, relationships with the environment, fellow humans, caring for loved ones, people and nature.

The country's “specially protected cultural Monument Turaida Museum Reserve” was established in 1988 on the basis of the Sigulda Municipality Research Museum and is a complex of cultural monuments of outstanding scientific, historical and cultural value.

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