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.