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Cable Car
A good way to reach Krimulda Castle is by Cable Car, which crosses the valley (west of Raiņa iela) every 15 minutes and affords splendid views. The big white building just west of the northern cable-car station is Krimulda Manor (Krimuldas muižas pils; Mednieku iela 3), built in 1897, confiscated by the government in 1922 and later turned into a tuberculosis hospital. Today it is a sanatorium.
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Gūtmaņis Cave
Gūtmaņis Cave is covered with graffiti going back to the 16th century - including the coats of arms of long-gone hunters. Legend has it the cave is named after a healer who allegedly cured the sick with water from it. This cave is most famous, however, for its role in the tragic legend of the 'Turaida Rose'.
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Knights' Stronghold
Little remains of the Knights' Stronghold, built between 1207 and 1226 among woods on the northeastern edge of Sigulda. The castle hasn't been repaired since the Great Northern War, but its ruins are perhaps more evocative because of that. There's a great view through the trees to the archbishop's reconstructed Turaida Castle, on the far side of the valley. On the way to the ruins from town, you pass Sigulda Church (Siguldas baznīca), built in 1225 and rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries, and also the 19th-century New Sigulda Castle (Siguldas jaunā pils), the former residence of Prince Kropotkin and now a sanatorium.
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Krimulda Castle
On the northern side of the valley, a track leads up from near the bridge to ruined Krimulda Castle, built between 1255 and 1273 and once used as a guesthouse for visiting dignitaries. Buses link Sigulda bus station with Turaida and Krimulda eight or nine times per day. Bus departure times are posted at the bus station.
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Krimulda Castle & Manor
Built between 1255 and 1273, Krimulda Castle was once used as a guesthouse for visiting dignitaries. A good way to reach the castle ruins is by cable car, which crosses the valley every half hour and affords splendid views. The big white building just west of the northern cable car station is Krimulda Manor built in 1897. Today it is a sanatorium.
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Turaida Castle
The centrepiece of Sigulda's Turaida Museum Reserve is Turaida Castle, a red-brick archbishop's castle founded in 1214 on the site of a Liv stronghold. It was blown up when lightning hit its gunpowder store in the 18th century. The restored castle - whose name, Turaida, means 'God's Garden' in ancient Livonian - is better viewed from afar, but the museum inside the 15th-century granary offers an interesting account of the Livonian state from 1319 to 1561. Further exhibitions can be viewed in the 42m Donjon Tower and the castle's western and southern towers.
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Turaida Church
On the path to the Turaida Castle in the Turaida Museum Reserve is the small wooden-spired Turaida Church, built in 1750 and housing a small history exhibition. In the churchyard two lime trees shade the grave of the legendary Turaida Rose. The headstone bears the inscription 'Turaidas Roze 1601-1620'. Viktors - a gardener local beauty Maija loved - is said to have buried Maija and planted one of the trees, then disappeared without trace.
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Turaida Museum Reserve
The reserve's centrepiece is Turaida Castle, a red brick archbishops' castle founded in 1214 on the site of a Liv stronghold. It was blown up when lightning hit its gunpowder store in the 18th century. The restored castle is better viewed from afar, but a museum in the 15th-century granary offers an interesting account of the Livonian state from 1319 to 1561.
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Showing 1-8 of 8 results
