Turaida Museum Reserve

Lonely Planet review

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.

On the path between the castle and the road 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' (Turaida means 'God's Garden' in ancient Livonian). Viktors himself is said to have buried Maija, then vanished without trace.

Behind the church is Daina Hill (Dainu kalns), which shelters the Daina Hill Song Garden. The daina (poetic folk song) is a major Latvian tradition; the hillside is dotted with sculptures dedicated to Latvian heroes immortalised in the dainas.

More paths twist around the estate past the estate manager's house, the dog keeper's house, where wood craft tools are displayed; the smithy, still operational; the cart house, host to various farming exhibitions; and the 19th-century sauna.