Poltsamaa Castle

The Order built a castle at Poltsamaa in 1272 on the river, and in the eighteenth century the interior was rebuilt as a rococo palace of considerable elaborateness under Major General von Lauw, with stucco and plasterwork that was among the finest in the region until it was destroyed in 1941. What survives is the wall circuit and courtyard, the church built into the range, cellars, and fragments of the decoration in a museum. Poltsamaa was known in the Soviet period for fruit wine made at the local plant, and cellars in the castle serve and sell it. A rose garden was planted in the courtyard, and the river and mill pond lie below.

History

The Livonian Order founded the castle in 1272 as a purely defensive fortress. During the Livonian War it was held for a time by Polish troops, and from 1570 to 1578 it was the residence of Duke Magnus of Holstein, who hoped to found a Livonian kingdom with the help of Ivan the Terrible. In 1623 Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden gave the estate to Field Marshal Herman Wrangel, who began turning the fortress into a late Renaissance residence, but it was burned in the Great Northern War; Peter the Great then gave it to the reformer Heinrich von Fick, and in 1750 it passed by inheritance to Woldemar Johann von Lauw, who rebuilt it as a lavish rococo palace. It later belonged to the Russian princely family Gagarin until 1919, and in 1941 it was almost entirely ruined (Wikipedia, Põltsamaa Castle).

What you'll find

• The castle courtyard - the walls and enclosure of the medieval circuit.
• The rose garden - the planting inside the courtyard.
• The wine cellars - the tasting and sale of Poltsamaa fruit wine.
• The church - the building set into the castle range.

When to go

May to September for the rose garden, which flowers from late June, and for full opening; winter hours are limited. The courtyard is open year round. Events are held in the walls in summer.

Before you go

The rococo interiors are gone and only fragments survive; the courtyard is a shell. Museum and cellar hours are seasonal and can be irregular. Poltsamaa is a small town with limited facilities. The visit takes about two hours.

Nearby

Paide lies northwest; Tartu is southeast.

Key facts