Grobin Castle
Latvia, Grobina, Liela Street, opposite the Lutheran Church.
Description:
Grobin Castle is located in a historic place. It was on the territory of modern Grobin that ancient Latvian tribes lived. It is believed that in 1253 the castle of the Livonian Order was built on the site of a long-destroyed Viking fortification. The fort was surrounded by a protective wall with one observation tower.
In the center of the fortress was a three-storey residential room. Later, in the XVI and XVII centuries the castle was rebuilt, adding defensive ramparts and four stone castle bastions.
The fort served as the residence of the Dukes of Kurzeme. It was in this fortress that falcons, famous throughout Courland, were grown for falconry. During the entire period of its existence, 14 owners changed in the castle.
In 1659, the fortress was captured by the Swedes, but a year later the castle was returned to the Duke of Courland Yekab, who had been held in the same castle for a whole year as a prisoner.
The fortress was destroyed in the XVIII century. To this day, only a part of the walls and cellars has reached.