Purtse Castle ( et, Purtse mõis, german: Alt-Isenhof) is a castle of a local Purtse knight manor in
Purtse, northeastern
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. It was built in the middle of the 16th century, probably by the landowner
Johann von Taube, at a time when
late Gothic ways of building were slowly being abandoned in favour of
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
ideas. The building therefore contains partly elements which were archaic even for its time, and partly examples of renaissance architecture.
History
The castle was built as a fortified manor house, different from a purely defensive
keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
in that the floors have not only one but several rooms. It consists of three storeys: the lower was used for storage, the middle for living and the top floor had a defensive function. The building was entered on the second floor via a ladder which could, in times of danger, be pulled up. Inside, the basement contained a sophisticated
hypocaust
A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...
system which could be used for heating the main hall on the middle floor.
During the course of history, the castle has had several different owners, notably
Henrik Fleming (1584–1650), Governor of
Ingria
Ingria is a historical region in what is now northwestern European Russia. It lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus in the north and by the River Narva on the border with Est ...
, and the
Baltic German
Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...
von Stackelberg family. The castle has also seen many different uses, including a feudal home, a fortification, a cellar, a milk chamber, a grain storage, a prison and a workers' residence.
During its long history, the manor has also burnt down several times. After 1940 it was abandoned completely. The castle was restored in 1987–90. The building is under state protection in Estonia and listed in the National Registry of Cultural Monuments.
Gallery
Purtse castle - panoramio.jpg
Purtse kindluselamu 2.jpg
Purtse kindluselamu interjöör 2006.jpg
Purtse kindluselamu 2006.jpg
See also
*
List of castles in Estonia
This is a list of castles in Estonia. This list does not include palaces and manor houses, which are listed in a separate article.
Castles of the Teutonic Order
Castles of the Bishopric of Dorpat
Castles of the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek
...
References
External links
Purtse CastlePurtse Manor
at Estonian Manors Portal
{{Castles in Estonia
Castles in Estonia
Lüganuse Parish
Buildings and structures in Ida-Viru County
Manor houses in Estonia
Kreis Wierland
Tourist attractions in Ida-Viru County