Ludza Castle ( lv, Ludzas pils, german: Ordensburg Ludsen) was a medieval castle built in Gothic style located next to a Catholic church, on the site of a former Latgalian wooden castle in the centre

Ludza Ludza (; pl, Lucyn, german: Ludsen, russian: Лудза, ''Ludza'') is a town in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia. Ludza is the oldest town in Latvia and this is commemorated by a key in its coat of arms. Ludza is the administrative centre o ...

, Latvia, a small town in eastern

Latgale Latgale ( ltg, Latgola; ; ger, Lettgallen; be, Латгалія, Łathalija; pl, Łatgalia; la, Lettgallia), also known as Latgalia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region and is north of the Daugava River. While m ...

. Its main purpose was to be an eastern outpost to control trade routes from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Nowadays the impressive fragments of the castle walls, including a three-floor high fragment, still remain. The ruins are the main tourist attraction in the

Ludza District Ludza District ( lv, Ludzas rajons) was an administrative division of Latvia, located in Latgale region, in the country's east. Districts were eliminated during the administrative-territorial reform in 2009. Towns of Ludza District *Kārsava ...

, and is considered a symbol of the town.

History

The first mention of the castle dates from 1433 when the

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after the ...

built a larger and stronger fortress to replace an earlier wooden fortress built by the ancient

Latgalians Latgalians (, nds, Letti, Lethi, modern ; variant translations also include Latgallians, Lettigalls or Lettigallians) were an ancient Baltic tribe. They likely spoke the Latvian language, which probably became the ''lingua franca'' in present-d ...

. The Ludza stone castle had three stories, six towers, three gates and two foreparts. It was built as an outpost for the Livonian order, mainly to strengthen the eastern border of Livonia and guard trade routes from

. In 1481 the Russians invaded Livonia, occupied and devastated the castle. Only the 1525 through improved relations with

Muscovy Muscovy is an alternative name for the Grand Duchy of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to: *Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555 * Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') and Domes ...

, the Livonian Order rebuilt the castle only to see it destroyed again in 1654 by Russian troops under orders from the Russian

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

Aleksey. At the start of the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region (pre ...

in 1558, German troops attacked Krasnij Gorodok and destroyed a number of parishes in

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

. In the same year Moscovian troops of Grigoriy Temkin occupied the castle, but suffering defeat, he was forced to abandon his conquest. In 1577 Livonia was once again invaded by Russian troops under the guidance of Ivan IV Vasilyevich and the castle was sacked. The following year the Order had Ludza castle with some others in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania mortgaged, and in 1561 asked the castle to be included in the

Inflantia The Inflanty Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo inflanckie), or ''Livonian Voivodeship'', also known as Polish Livonia, was an administrative division and local government in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, since it was formed in the 1620s out ...

. In 1582 the castle returned to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the Polish-Swedish War in 1625 the Swedish army occupied the castle, but the Polish-Lithuania Commonwealth soon got it back. In the Russian-Polish War in 1654 the Russian voivod Lev Saltikov surrounded Ludza and the castle surrendered. According to a decision of the Polish Sejm in 1667, only the Daugavpils castle was maintained and other defenses, including Ludza castle, were neglected. After that the castle was abandoned and left in ruins.

References

;Attribution *''This article is based on the translation of the corresponding article of the Latvian Wikipedia. A list of contributors can be found there at the''

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

''section.''

External links

* {{Castles in Latvia Ludza Castles in Latvia Castles of the Livonian Order

History

See also

References

External links