Sigulda Things to Do

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I really suggest to take you a tour to Turaida and Sigulda castles! I would like to say a very big "Thank you!" to a tour guide Sabine from a company Latvian Tour Guides, who took me and my friends to Turaida, Sigulda and Krimulda and did all her best to make that a perfect day tour to us!
If you go to Sigulda stop at restaurant in city centre which is next to the hotel (the name was "Kakis" (a cat in Latvian)) - very tasty pastries and a good coffee.
We went there on August 28 and the day was sunny so we walked a lot, but I do not know if we would enjoy it so much if it would rain.
One more thing - if you get till Krimulda - definitely take air cable car - it`s worth that!
The website for Sigulda: http://www.sigulda.lv/public/
for the company we took: http://www.latviantourguides.com/
the restaurant website I do not know...unfortunately

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The manor house was built in the middle of the 19th century. It was turned into a tuberculosis hospital and it is today a sanatorium for children. In front of the manor house is a long wooden summer pavilion. There is a café which is open every day during summer and only on Saturdays and Sundays the rest of the year. It was closed when I visited.

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The most beautiful castle in this region is the red brick Turaida castle, dating back to the 13th century. Its construction began in 1214, making it as old as the old Sigulda castle. The name Turaida means garden of Tor (a god known to many tribes of northern and central Europe). During the cursades, Turaida castle served as a base of the crusaders, but the castle came to fame because of a beauty called Turaida Rose. In the 18th century, a lightning hit the gunpowder store and destroyed the castle. It wasn’t until 1947 that the castle became part of a new museum. Since then, a couple of buildings in the castle were rebuilt. For further details about that, please check out my tip “Turaida Museum Reserve”.

The Turaida museum, established in 1947 received the status of museum reserve in 1989. The exhibitions illustrate the history of the Turaida Castle, parish and the Gauja Livs. Visitors are time-warped through many centuries, beginning with the exhibition of domestic objects dating back to the time of extinct tribes of Balts and Livs.

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Birini Castle isn't very far from Sigulda, so if you're discovering this region, don't miss this georgeous palace.
The first information about this inhabited locality dates back to the 13th century and can be traced down in old legends and chronicles.
Birini Palace was built from 1857 – 1860. The building’s architectural style is more neogothic but the interior is dominated by romanticism.
Birini Palace has a beautiful regular park with a stunning view.

After leaving Gutmanis Cave, we headed toward Turaida. Although we saw a couple of directional signs, once again the path at some point is not well marked. We ended up walking along the shoulder of the main road at some point, you could see the castle from the road along with all kinds of signs saying not to climb up the hill to get there whether that be for safety or because you'd skip paying the admission fee.

So we resisted temptation and followed the road up to the official entrance, paid our 1.5 Ls and entered the reserve. The reserve has several attractions to visit, the highlight is the Turaida Castle but you will also want to go see the grave of Turaida Rose, the estate manager's house and surrounding buildings, the Turaida church and the Folksong sculpture garden.

We started off to the right of the admission desk, mostly because I saw the WC and was in desperate need now so our first stop was the Turaida Church.

The castle is the highlight to the visit to the Turaida Museum reserve especially the climb up the tower and the view over the Gauja Valley. There is an exhibition in the tower as well.

The castle was built in 1214 by the Archbishop of Riga on the site of a Liv stronghold. It was burnt down in 1776 (the tower survived). Some restoration has taken place since.

The name Turaida means God's Garden.

This church is one of oldest wooden church left in Latvia; it was built in 1750, so at year of 2000 it had commemoration of 250 years. Really impressive. It is pity, there was no opportunity to see interior of this building. Maybe another time :)