Things to Do in Bauska in Latvia
June 19, 2019Things to Do in Bauska in Latvia, a city which is located 66km from the capital of Latvia and only 20 Km from the border with Lithuania, the city is at the confluence of the rivers Musa and Mēmele.
Bauska It is a city that has suffered many wars, as Polish-Swedish War, the Russians in the Great Northern War, with Napoleon when he was on the way to Russia, after so many wars, Bauska lived a quiet moment and prospered by being in the way you enter the capitals of Latvia is yes Lithuania.
At that time many Jews from Germany They settled in the city, but again the city was taken in World War I, logo Latvians made a war for independence and Bauska that time was invaded by the Russians sometimes, but the city prospered greatly between the first and second war.
In World War II the city was invaded again but this time by the Germans and many Jews living in the city were sent to concentration camps, during the war the city was almost completely destroyed.
The reconstruction was slow and long under the domination and repression of the Soviet Union, since Latvia was part, until today has many abandoned houses, the city that was great today is small, but very beautiful, we visited the city in a script that made by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Bauska was not in the original script, We got to know the city that she was next to one of the most important attractions of the country, The Palace of Rundale.
O Rundale, also known as the Palace of Versailles in the Baltics, It is less than 10 minutes from the city, that day visited the palace by 2 hours and then went to lunch in Bauska. About Palace Rundale we have details in another post.
In addition to having lunch in town, which luckily found a wonderful restaurant called Tornis, where we ate a typical food of Latvia, which is a breaded pork steak with cheese sauce, delicious salad and potatoes, and still very, very cheap, 17 euros per couple, with half-liter beer, half the price you pay in many other places in Europe.
After having lunch we visit the city and see what to do in Bauska, which has two main attractions, O Bauska Castle, built in the early fifteenth century, on the river banks, pretty well the castle even more to be on the river banks, the castle can be visited.
The castle, It has recently been restored and a part still in the works, on narrow peninsula at the confluence of the rivers Musa and Mēmele, where they form the river Lielupe . In ancient times, the hill was the site of an ancient fortress semigaliana . The first stone buildings were established between 1443 e 1450 the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Knights and the construction continued until the end of the sixteenth century. The old part of the castle had a large watchtower.
Construction began under the Master of the Order of the field of Livonia, Heidenreich Vinke Overberg (1439 – 1450). The castle was intended to strengthen the power of the Order of Semigallia, to protect the border with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and to control the trade route from Lithuania to Riga. The castle was both a military fortress as the administrative center of the area.
After the collapse of the Livonian Order in 1562, Castle Bauska became one of the residences of the Dukes of Courland, for whom a new adjacent wing was built in the seventeenth century. In 1568, 1590 e 1601 os parliament (representative assembly) the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia were held here.
In 1706, during the Great Northern War , both the castle and the palace were blown up by the Russians retreated and were not restored.
Today only ruins remain in the Livonian Order's headquarters. The palace, However, It is fully restored and can be visited daily during the summer months. Visitors can explore the castle, visit the museum, eat no coffee, climb the castle, the watchtower, which has a panoramic view of the surrounding city and countryside.
Another interesting point of the city is Anti-Soviet and Victims of Repression Of Monument, representing a dark period of the city and the Soviet socialist rule.
After stopping in this city with so much history it was time to go to Riga, capital of Latvia, where we slept 2 nights, soon we will count it has to know this beautiful city.
