Krustpils Castle

Krustpils was founded in 1237 by the Archbishop of Riga on the Daugava as a fortified point on the river route, and it was rebuilt through the following centuries into a manor house around a courtyard, held by the von Korff family from the sixteenth century until 1920. It served as a military barracks through much of the twentieth century, which altered it heavily. Restoration has recovered the tower, the vaulted cellars, a painted hall and a sequence of rooms, and the building holds the Jekabpils history museum with collections on the town, the region and the castle itself. The tower is climbed for a view over the Daugava and the two halves of the town.

History

The castle is first recorded in 1237, when the Archbishop of Riga built a castle named Kreutz, and in 1359 the Livonian Order took it with six other castles of the archbishopric. In the 18th century it gained a representative look with Baroque additions, and the railway lines of 1861 and 1904 brought the town new prosperity (Wikipedia, Krustpils Castle).

The main sights

• The castle courtyard - the manor ranges around the enclosed court.
• The tower - the climb and the view over the Daugava.
• Vaulted cellars - the surviving medieval undercrofts.
• The regional museum - the collections on Jekabpils and the district.

When to go

May to September for the fullest opening; the museum works year round with reduced winter hours and closes on Mondays. Weekdays are quiet.

Good to know

Military use in the twentieth century removed most historic interiors and what is shown is restoration. The museum is provincial in scale and labelled mainly in Latvian. The visit takes about ninety minutes.

Nearby

Koknese lies west down the Daugava; Teici reserve is east.

Key facts