Valjala Castle
| Valjala Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 Remains of the castle |
||
| Creation time : | 12th Century | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Valjala | |
| Geographical location | 58 ° 23 '59.3 " N , 22 ° 47' 40.4" E | |
|
||
The castle Valjala is the ruin of a lowland castle about 700 m south of Valjala on the island of Saaremaa in Estonia . At the time of its construction in the 12th century it was the most important fortress on Saaremaa. With the capitulation of the castle in 1227, the conquest of Estonia by the Teutonic Order was complete.
description
The castle was a ring castle with an inner courtyard and an area of 3600 m². As the only stone castle on the island, it stood above the nearby Lõve River, a much-used waterway. It has a slightly oval shape with dimensions approximately 120 m long and 110 m wide. The height of the walls is about 3–6 m inside and about 5–8 m outside. In the courtyard is a fountain made of limestone .
Archaeological finds, such as iron nails, indicate that the castle continued to be used after the crusade. The castle was probably razed after failed rebellions in 1236-1241 or 1260-1261 .
The ruins of the castle were first examined in 1895 by Sergej Bogojavlensik and PP Stackelberg. During excavations led by Aita Kustin between 1962 and 1964, several building foundations and floor plans of cooking areas were discovered. Furthermore, we found crossbow bolt that came from the siege 1227th
literature
- Marika Mägi: “… Ships are their main strength.” Harbor sites, arable lands and chieftains on Saaremaa . 2nd Edition. tape 8 . Estonian Journal of Archeology, 2004.
- Heikki Bauert, Sebastian Willman, Elle Puurmann, Urve Ratas: Geotourism highlights of the Saaremaa and Hiiumaa islands. (PDF) Geoguide Baltoscandia, 2009, accessed on December 20, 2018 (English).
- Linda Kaljundi, Marek Tamm: Crusading and Chronicle Writing on the Medieval Baltic Frontier: A Companion to the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia . Ed .: Routledge. 2nd Edition. tape 8 , 2016, ISBN 978-1-317-15679-6 .
- Neil Taylor: Estonia . Ed .: Bradt Travel Guides. 2014, ISBN 978-1-84162-487-7 .
- Heiki Valk: The Fate of Final Iron Age Strongholds of Estonia: struggle for power and transition to the Middle Ages . Ed .: Muinasaja teadus . tape 24 , 2014.
