Cesvaine Castle Park

Cesvaine Castle Park was created in the traditions of a landscape park at the end of the 19th century. It was planted after the construction of the new manor house (1893-1896). The castle is included in the existing ensemble of manor buildings and was partly built on the site of both the old manor house and the medieval castle.

Until the construction of the new castle, the old Cesvaine Park was located where a medieval cemetery used to be, but now the municipal building and parking lot are located. The territory of the new park used to be arable fields. The new park, covering an area of ​​approximately 30 hectares, was created after the construction of the castle as a romantic landscape park – with views of the castle.

Several foreign tree and shrub varieties have been planted in it according to the soil map created for the manor lands in 1756. Cesvaine Park attracts with its natural splendor and interesting terrain. We can thank the glacier for this, which, as it gradually melted, created the ancient valley of the Sula River with the hilly landscape characteristic of the Vidzeme Uplands. Today, we can find only a part of the rare trees and shrubs that once grew here in the park, but the keen eye of a nature observer will see many unusual trees and shrubs, herbs and flowers. Mountain maples have multiplied in large numbers in the park, and we can also find black pine. We will also find cork trees and hornbeams, walnuts and partridge-leaved physocarps. The magnificent berries of the saddleberry and white snowberries look beautiful. Silver fir and Douglas fir grow next to the castle. In the spring, white robinia blooms near the Tea House. Poisonous plants coexist well here: coltsfoot and snakeroot, several subspecies of gundogs, but in the spring, where blue vizbulites have bloomed, in the summer we will find an anemone and blue bells. Here grow thickets of spines and Nutka raspberries, rose hips and curly roses.

Sightseeing spots in the park territory are the ancient valley of the Sūla River, a tea house, a pump house, medieval castle ruins, Cesvaine Castle Mound, where the owner of the manor, Ādolfs von Wulf, is buried, a memorial sign – the Verste Pillar to the students and teachers of Cesvaine Secondary School repressed in 1941/1949. The information boards of the open-air exhibition near the Tea House, the park stairs and the castle mound contain descriptions of the historical sites visible in the park, as well as a map of the walking trails. In the northern part of the park you can find information about the little eagle that lives here.

The owners of Cesvaine Manor have changed several times, but since 1815 the manor has been managed by the family of landowner Adolf Heinrich von Wulf (1765-1843). After his death, the manors of Cesvaine, Madona and other surrounding areas came into the possession of his son Julius von Wulf (1809-1872). The last real owner, as well as the builder of the new Cesvaine Castle and stables, as well as the creator of the park, was Julius’s son Adolf Gerhard Boriss Emils von Wulf (1857-1904). Until the agrarian reform, the property remained in the possession of Adolf’s son Vilhelm von Wulf. Today, Cesvaine Castle and Park, as well as some of the buildings of the castle manor, are owned by the Madona County Municipality.

The park, the castle with the observation tower and the manor are popular tourist attractions. See you on the trails of the Cesvaine Castle Park!

Additional info

Nearby is Cesvaine Castle, manor complex, tourism centre.