30 May 2017 / leggypeggy

Parts of Bauska Castle are still romantic ruins

artefacts, castles, clothing, courtyard, kitchens, laundry, palaces, rivers, ruins, tiles, toilets, towers

Castle courtyard

Over the last month, we’ve been travelling/driving around Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Frankly I’d like to write about all of them at once, but every post takes time, research and sorting through photos. That’s all precious time when I’m supposed to be driving, sightseeing, eating, sleeping and doing the dreaded hand laundry.

So today I’ve decided to take you through a Latvian castle—Bauska—where I bet someone in the past would have done all the laundry for me. Unless, of course, I was the laundry slave. 😦 You can be sure I wouldn’t have been washing the outfits below.

For now, I’ll pretend that I was important and I’ll guide you through ‘my domain’.

This impressive (and now partially restored) castle stands on a narrow peninsula at the confluence of two rivers—the Mūsa and Mēmele—that form a third river—the Lielupe.

The Livonian branch of the Teutonic Knights started building the first stone structures in the mid-1400s. Construction continued into the 1500s.

The castle was both a military stronghold and the administrative centre of the area.

But after the Livonian Order collapsed in 1562, the castle became a residence/palace for one of the Dukes of Courland.

Spear heads

Axe heads

Horse shoe

Jewellery

Did he survive?

Window panes

Bowl

About 150 years later (in April 1706) and during the Great Northern War, part of the castle was blown up by the retreating Russians. By the end of the 1700s, most of it was in ruins. Gosh, don’t you hate it when that happens?

But luckily in the 18th century, the ruins were deemed ‘romantic’ and so attracted the attention of painters and historians, and ultimately restorers.

Old tile

New tile

Bed with timber canopy

Two-seater toilet

Today much of the castle has been restored, and what hasn’t still looks rather romantic. It was interesting to see a small area of floor tiles that were still original. They are very subtle compared to the replacements, and much nicer, in my opinion.

We also saw lots of furnishings, artefacts and clothing from days gone by. Sadly, I never saw a laundry tub (only a two-seater toilet), so I’m guessing that I wouldn’t have been able to get my clothes washed. I suppose they wore their get-ups for years on end.

Kitchen with an oven I could stand in

That said, I love seeing the kitchen. The stove/oven was big enough for me to walk into—really a spot to cook for a crowd. The clothes of the day were fascinating, too, and not really candidates for being laundered.

Hope you enjoy this swag of pictures of the castle.

P.S. We’ve visited a bunch of castles and palaces over the last month. I’ll try not to bore you with them, and will share only the ones that are different.