Gunta Zakite, Pt. 1

Описание: Turaida manor – from the economic part of the medieval castle to the museum exposition, Gunta Zakite, Turaida Museum Reserve, Latvia

Specially Protected Cultural Monument the Turaida Museum Reserve is a unique museum in Latvia, as it is the only museum reserve. It covers an area of ​​more than 57 ha, where there are buildings-monuments, archaeological sites, indoor and outdoor expositions. An important part of the Museum Reserve is the environment, the landscape created by man and nature. The message of the Turaida Museum Reserve is based on the story of the historical center of Turaida over a thousand years. This story reflects the history of Latvia in the same way as a drop of water from the sea reflects information about the entire sea. In 2021, the historical center of Turaida was included in the list of European Heritage Sites.
One of the conditional parts of the Turaida Museum Reserve is the economic building center of the Turaida Manor. Often, the attention of researchers and other interested parties of the former manors is attracted by the luxurious residence of the owner of the manor and the complex of buildings around it. The case of Turaida is different. The residential house of the manor owner has not been preserved here, but 20 buildings that ensured the economic activity of the manor - a smithy, a wheelhouse, a barn-stable, a sauna, a servants' house, the old and new residential houses of the manor managers, etc.
The Turaida manor is formed near the Turaida castle of the Archbishop of Riga, built in 1214. Starting from the 16th century, the manor becomes an economic unit, which includes the surrounding land, forests, waters, the center of the manor with economic buildings, gardens and parks.
After the secularization of the Riga archbishopric in 1566, the Turaida manor was transferred to the Vidzeme nobility in order to cover the maintenance expenses of the land court from its income.
Turaida manor became private property for the first time in 1571, when Elert Kruse, bailiff of the Tartu diocese, received it as a reward for his services to the Polish-Lithuanian state.
The first written information about the farm of Turaida manor is preserved in the audit protocols of 1582 and 1590. The audit of 1590 shows that there is a relatively large manor farm near Turaida Castle, which is based on the fees and taxes of the entire city district.
From 1652 to 1818, the Turaida manor was owned by the von Budberg family. After that, it comes into the possession of the von Campenhausen family. Since 1907, the manor belongs to the Stael von Holstein family. As a result of the agrarian reform of 1920, 55 ha of manor land with 7 buildings remain in the ownership of the nobleman, the rest of the land is divided into new farms. In the period from 1920 to 1939, 106 farms were created from the land property of the former Turaida manor. But the center of the manor, located in the courtyard of the medieval castle, comes under the control of the teachers' union and is maintained as a tourist attraction.
After World War II, most of the territory of the manor is included in the Soviet collective management system, but the part of the medieval castle becomes a popular tourist attraction and museum. During the creation of the Turaida Museum Reserve, the buildings located near the castle, which were in a very bad condition at the time, were identified and studied. The result of the research showed that these buildings are a valuable part of the history of Turaida and therefore the buildings of previous manor have been preserved, renovated, restored and, together with the exposition, have become an integral part of the story of the historical center of Turaida.