Jersika castle wall

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Remains of the castle ramparts

The Jersika castle wall is a former hilltop castle near Jersika in Latvia . It existed from the 10th to the 14th century.

investment

The castle at Düna (Daugava) at 18 meters on the lock bei Jersika. It covered an area of ​​about 75 × 100 meters and was surrounded by a wall with a wood-earth construction. Archaeological findings revealed traces of residential and farm buildings in wooden block construction, as well as numerous individual finds, including small Christian crosses. Heinrich of Livonia mentioned (Orthodox) churches with images of saints and bells in his chronicle .

The castle was at the crossroads of trade routes to and from Riga , Polotsk and Pskov .

history

The oldest settlement finds on the hill could be in the 1st century BC. To be dated. A castle was built there in the 10th century, probably in connection with the emergence of the Kievan Rus, as some finds from this culture suggest. A rex (king or prince) Vissewald is mentioned there for the year 1209, who paid tribute to the Principality of Polotsk . The bishop Albrecht of Riga captured the castle that year and destroyed it. However, according to archaeological finds, it must have been rebuilt and used until the 14th century.

In 1939 extensive archaeological excavations took place under the direction of Francis Balodis.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eduard Pabst: Heinrich's von Lettland Livonian Chronicle . Reval 1867. pp. 115-119
  2. ↑ Anti Selart: Livonia and the Rus in the 13th century (= sources and studies on Baltic history , volume 21). Böhlau, Cologne, Weimar, Vienna 2007. ISBN 3-412-16006-7 . P. 97f. Note 194
  3. ↑ Findings from the excavations at Francis Balodis: Jersika un tai 1939. gadā izdarītie izrakumi . Rīgā 1940.

Coordinates: 56 ° 16 ′ 33.6 ″  N , 26 ° 12 ′ 6.9 ″  E