The grandiose Ceszewski castle was built in just eight years from 1886 to 1894. The customer and first owner was Baron Adolf Wulf, who spent a fabulous sum of three million gold rubles on the castle. The castle was erected as a hunting lodge and a country residence, it was intended for the beloved wife of the baron, who did not live to see the end of construction.
The palace was built by German architects Hans Grisebach and Augustus Dinklas. The baron followed fashion and loved progress, so all the innovations of that time - water supply, sewage system, electricity and even internal telephone communication were immediately installed in the house.
The Baron was proud of his home and often invited guests to enjoy hunting, entertainment and relaxation with them. He loved the castle so much that in his will he indicated that he wanted to rest under the canopy of centuries-old oaks in the palace park. The baron died at the beginning of the 20th century, far from home, but his body was transported and buried in his favorite place. Today, the grave of the owner of the castle can be seen in the park. After 10 years, the castle was sold to another owner, who established a gymnasium within its walls, and then a change broke out.
Nowadays
In 1919, Cesvain Castle (Latvia) was nationalized; a secondary school for children was organized in it. In 2002, a massive fire broke out in the palace, destroying the roof. No matter how strange it may be, at the beginning of the 21st century the school was heated as well as under Baron Wulf - with wood. Even stranger, the school did not have any fire extinguishing systems and alarms.
Local residents believe that the keeper saved the castle from complete destruction by fire - a mysterious bronze beast with the head of a wolf, the tail of a fox and the body of a lion. The sculpture stands on the roof of the left wing of the palace and at all times was considered the talisman of the estate. During the great fire, she did not suffer at all, perhaps it was this mythical animal, the baron’s whim, that preserved the monument of architecture from destruction.
Currently, the roof of the castle has been restored; a music school, a tourist center and a museum are operating on the premises. Restoration work is not yet completed, tourists are invited to inspect the first floors of the palace, specialists and builders work in the remaining rooms.
Architecture
Cesvain Castle was built in the neoclassical style, in its architecture the experienced eye will find the features of Gothic, modern and Renaissance. The walls are made of wild stone, giving it a fleur of antiquity. The exterior of the palace has been fully restored, and internal work continues. As a result of the fire, the unique painting of the walls was almost completely destroyed, but the wooden staircase was well preserved, the stucco molding was cleaned in many rooms, magnificent fireplaces and spaces of each room amaze the imagination.
From Cesvain Castle there are several underground passages. They were laid at the direction of the baron, who believed that this would be a romantic highlight of the palace. Today, most of the moves are bombarded with people or collapsed, it is not possible to get there. At the disposal of tourists there is a huge basement and an upper observation deck in one of the towers of the palace, climb it along a narrow stone staircase. From the top floor, a charming view of the surroundings and the nest of storks opens, each summer nesting in one of the chimneys.
Cesvain Castle was built next to the ruins of a medieval military structure, they decorated the park for a rather long time, but during the war it was completely destroyed, with the exception of a small fragment, which can be admired today.
Acoustic room
The description of Cesvain Castle will be incomplete if you do not talk about its secrets, myths and features. One of the mysteries is the acoustic room - a small room under a round roof. It is impossible to stay in it for more than 20 minutes, people feel bad, many lose consciousness.
The palace officials say that if a bat flies into the room at night, then by the morning it will die, completely losing orientation in space, it will crash against the walls. It is impossible to make audio recordings in this room; no media can catch human speech. Physicists cannot explain what is happening in the room and put forward one theory after another, but no one has yet revealed the secrets of this room.
Without windows and doors
Cesvain Castle has its own mystical history associated with one of the towers, sometimes called the Ghost Tower. She is curious that there is no way to get inside - there are no doors at all, but there are four windows under the roof itself. Of course, the first and main version was the myth that countless treasures, gold, and jewelry were walled up in it.
No one dares to check what is actually in the tower; the main factor in scaring off idle curious people is the belief that everyone who looks into the windows or even more so when they get inside a walled-up room will soon die. And there is evidence that the predictions about the death of treasure seekers came true. So, an unexpected death overtook two directors of the gymnasium and two high school students, who at different times tried to look into the tower from the roof.
It is curious that no one has yet hit the tower. Historians believe that she appeared by chance during the construction of the palace. At first the extension was built, and only later it was given the appearance of a tower, having completed the upper floors and decorated them with windows. During the fire of 2002, neither the students nor the firemen dared to look through the windows, and this mystery remains unsolved.
Park and counties
The park is an integral part of Cesvain Castle. Photos of stairs, grottoes, paths and centuries-old oaks eloquently tell about the beauty of the landscape, urging tourists to take a romantic walk. Going down the magnificent stairs and leaving behind the bulk of the palace, the visitor sets off on an interesting journey, where on the way he will encounter grottoes, springs, bridges over the river and much more.
After wandering around the district, you can go to the outbuildings - a stable with an arena for horse riding, immediately there were impressive storerooms, a brewery, rooms for grooms and a separate manager's house, built in the style of a Swiss chalet.
There are other sights in the town of Cesvaine - the largest Lutheran church in Latvia, the ruins of a medieval Catholic church and a few old architectural monuments.
Reviews
Tourists left the most enthusiastic reviews about Cesvain Castle. The stories describe the incredible impression that he makes on anyone who falls into his room or park. Visitors note that so far a lot has already been restored. Most tourists noted the beauty of the fireplaces and their decoration, many liked the wooden staircase of the old work and the intricacy of the building itself.
Tourists liked informative excursions, managed to find out a lot of facts, some dared to pass the test in an acoustic room. It is noted that the museum staff are friendly, answer all questions and try to give as much information as possible about the castle and its owner - the merry fellow and adventurer Baron Wolfe.
Helpful information
The address of the palace is simple - Latvia, the city of Cesvaine.
The mode of operation of the castle depends on the season:
- From May to October, the castle is open from Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 18:00, on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 19:00, Monday is a day off
- From November to the end of April, the castle is open only on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00.
Entrance fee is 2 euros.
You can get to Cesvaine Castle from Riga by regular bus, first having reached the city of Madona, where you need to transfer local routes to the bus, which often run, you won’t have to wait for transport for a long time.