Rõngu is a small borough (') in

Elva Parish Elva is a rural parish in the Estonian Tartu County with an area of . As of 2017, it has a population of 14241 inhabitants. It was created in 2017 from the merger of the municipality Elva with the rural communities Konguta Parish, Puhja Parish, ...

Tartu County Tartu County ( et, Tartu maakond or ''Tartumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in eastern Estonia bordering Põlva County, Valga County, Viljandi County and Jõgeva County. The area of Tartu County is , which covers 6.9% ...

, southern

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 ...

. Prior to the administrative reform of Estonian local governments in 2017, it was the administrative centre of Rõngu Parish.

Sights

Rõngu castle ruins

The present-day ruins are the visible remains of a so-called "vassal castle", i.e. a smaller fortress not designed for major military operations, established in the early 14th century. Built in the south-western part of the

Bishopric of Dorpat The Bishopric of Dorpat ( et, Tartu piiskopkond; nds, Bisdom Dorpat; la, Ecclesia Tarbatensis) was a medieval prince-bishopric, i.e. both a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and a temporal principality ruled by the bishop of the diocese. I ...

, it probably served to control the bishopric's border there. The castle was centred on a rectangular courtyard which was surrounded by wings. The gate, the remains of which are most prominently visible today, was strengthened by a gatehouse that also housed a chapel on its second floor. During 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 (pr ...

, the castle was pillaged by Russian troops. After 1583, when the area came under the influence of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

as the

Duchy of Livonia The Duchy of Livonia ( or ; lt, Livonijos kunigaikštystė; la, Ducatus Ultradunensis; et, Liivimaa hertsogkond; lv, Pārdaugavas hercogiste; german: Herzogtum Livland), also referred to as Polish Livonia or Livonia ( pl, link=no, Inflanty) ...

, it was still in use, this time by local Jesuits. The Jesuits however blew up the castle amid the events that led to the

Truce of Altmark __NOTOC__ The six-year Truce of Altmark (or Treaty of Stary Targ, pl, Rozejm w Altmarku, sv, Stillståndet i Altmark) was signed on 16 (O.S.)/26 (N.S.) September 1629 in the village of Altmark (Stary Targ), in Poland, by the Polish–Lithuani ...

and the subsequent incorporation of the area into Swedish Livonia.

Rõngu church

Although the church dates from the late 14th century, only fragments of the original building have survived as the church was devastated during both the

and the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...

. The church seen today is a heavily rebuilt

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

edifice which received its look during the late 19th century.

Gallery

File:Rongu-vassallilinnus1.JPG, Rõngu castle ruins File:Rongu-moisapark.JPG, Rõngu castle park File:Statue of Estonian War of Independence in Rõngu 1.jpg,

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List o ...

memorial File:Rõngu 2020.jpg, Small park in the center of Rõngu

References

Boroughs and small boroughs in Estonia Kreis Dorpat {{Tartu-geo-stub