The castle was built in the first half of the fourteenth century or at the end of the thirteenth century on the initiative of the archbishop’s vassal, Christian von Rosen. Often, the year 1272 is given as the construction date. In the following centuries the power over the stronghold was performed by subsequent members of the von Rosen family. In 1480, the castle had to still have a considerable military value, because it resisted the Teutonic Order army. Even after the destructive Livonian War of the second half of the sixteenth century, the castle was inhabited and retained its military significance. The end of the stronghold came in 1601 during the Polish-Swedish war.
The stronghold was built of bricks, the stone was used only in its foundations. The plan of the castle was characterized by shape of the hill on which it was erected. The defensive wall was led along its edges, obtaining a shape similar to a quadrangle with two rounded corners. The interior buildings were probably wooden. The gate was halfway along the southern wall.
Small ruins of the castle have survived, situated on a fairly high, as for the Latvian conditions, hill. What is unique, they are adapted to sightseeing, thanks to the arrangement of a wooden pavement for tourists and the placement of an information board. Entrance to the castle is free.
Borowski T, Miasta, zamki i klasztory, Inflanty, Warszawa 2010.