Excursion privée d’une demi-journée à Sigulda au départ de Riga
Description
Visite des châteaux médiévaux de Sigulda et Turaida.
Options de l'excursion
Itinéraire
Les ruines du château médiéval de Sigulda sont situées au bord de la vallée de la Gauja en Lettonie. Le château d'origine a été construit en 1207 en tant que forteresse de type castellum, puis reconstruit en bâtiment de type couvent. C'était la résidence du maréchal de l'Ordre de Livonie depuis 1432. Au tout début de la guerre de Livonie, le château médiéval de Sigulda a été endommagé. En 1562, il devint une partie du Duché de Livonia et à partir de 1566 la résidence du gouverneur de Livonia. À la fin du XVIe siècle, les Polonais réparèrent le château et ses bâtiments environnants. Pendant la guerre polono-suédoise, le château fut sérieusement endommagé. Après la guerre, les Suédois ont rapporté que le château était vide et détruit. En 1622, il fut à nouveau restauré et un nouveau bâtiment résidentiel et un sauna furent construits. En 1737, Sigulda devint un domaine privé. C'était d'abord la propriété du gouverneur de Livland. Au XIXe siècle, le château et son plan ont été réaménagés et une porte portant l'inscription 1867 a été ajoutée à la partie avant du château. La tour de porte entourant le bâtiment intérieur du château a été décorée des armoiries de la famille Borch. Enfin, entre 1878 et 1881, la famille du prince Kropotkine construisit un nouveau château. Après la Première Guerre mondiale avec la création de la République de Lettonie indépendante, les ruines ont été placées sous les auspices du Monument Board. La recherche approfondie et la rénovation du château de Sigulda ont commencé en 1962. Le plan de construction, les détails de la façade et des murs ont été mesurés. Un plan topographique du château et de ses environs a été créé en 1978. Les fouilles archéologiques des ruines ont été supervisées par Normunds Treijs de 1987 à 1988 et par Jānis Ciglis en 1997. En 2011, l'Union européenne a coparrainé un projet visant à les rénovations. Intitulé officiellement «Reconstruction des ruines du château de Sigulda et adaptation des infrastructures pour le développement du tourisme», il a été conclu avec succès en 2012.
Le château de Turaida domine la réserve muséale et constitue visuellement son élément le plus impressionnant. Vu du ciel ou de la rive opposée de la Gauja à Sigulda, le château de Turaida s’élève au-dessus des arbres comme un puissant navire en brique rouge. La construction du château a commencé en 1214, sur les instructions données par Albert, l'archevêque de Riga, à ses frères livoniens de l'épée (qui fusionneront bientôt avec l'ordre teutonique) à l'endroit où se trouvait auparavant le château en bois de Liv. Le château a été construit en grande partie dans la construction classique en brique rouge des ordres croisés Baltic. L'amélioration du système de défense du château s'est poursuivie au cours des siècles suivants et, au XIVe siècle, la partie sud en forme de tour a été construite. Au début du 15ème siècle, lorsque les armes à feu ont été inventées, la tour occidentale semi-arrondie a été construite. Des travaux de reconstruction mineurs ont été effectués au 17ème siècle bien que le château ait commencé à perdre de son importance stratégique. Après un incendie en 1776, il fut abandonné et devint progressivement ruineux. Au début du 20e siècle, il ne restait que des fragments séparés du mur de défense et de quelques bâtiments - la tour principale, la tour semi-arrondie et la partie ouest. À partir de 1976, des fouilles archéologiques régulières ont été effectuées, suivies de travaux de restauration et de conservation révélant l'état antérieur du château. Des expositions sur l'histoire du château de briques et de Gauja Livs sont proposées dans des bâtiments restaurés. Depuis le belvédère de la tour principale, vous pouvez voir le paysage unique de la pittoresque vallée de Gauja Gauja et le territoire de la réserve muséale de Turaida.
Points forts
Ce qui est inclus
Lieux et horaires de prise en charge
Nous viendrons vous chercher et revenir de votre hôtel ou adresse dans la ville de Riga.
Avis des voyageurs
Informations importantes
- Landau ou poussette possible pour les bébés et enfants en bas âge
- Animaux d'assistance acceptés
- Sièges enfants avec besoins spéciaux disponibles
- Convient à toutes les conditions physiques
- Les enfants doivent être accompagnés par un adulte
- S'il vous plaît apporter vos chaussures de marche
- Des arrêts et des détours de café peuvent être organisés avec le chauffeur
Avis(23)
An effective and interesting way to see the country outside the capital and learn of the history. A pleasant guide.
Thank you very much for the review!
Martins was very friendly and knowledgeable. Felt at ease and enjoyed hearing the prospective of a local. Highly recommend touring with him. Able to take at our own pace and avoid the large group from the cruise ship
Dear Brian, Thank you very much for the review!
I have never actually written a bad review before because usually the company is understanding or the experience wasn’t as good as expected due to traveler error BUT not exactly the case with this company or tour. I should have known something was off right from the start when I got a message that I’d be met “in the lobby” of my hotel at a designated time. I went to the lobby 10 minutes early. When the I had waited 10 mins after the time I was to meet, I reached out to the company and was told that the driver was standing in reception next to the desk. I was confused because the only people in reception were myself and the hotel staff. Eventually, a man comes in and introduces himself as the driver. Okay, I get it, mixed communication, moving on. But then we get in the car and he turns and asks me “where are you going?” Where am I going?! Am I in the wrong car? Aren’t you the employee of the tour company? I pull up the Viator App and read him the itinerary. He asks where I want to go first. How would I know, sir? I don’t live here. I’m literally paying you for this experience. We set off in complete silence. And I start wondering when the tour is going to start. When am I going to start learning about all that happened in this area regarding the castles, etc. Nothing but silence. When we show up to a parking lot, the driver slows and looks a little confused. He says this is where the address is but it’s a parking lot. He then figures out it’s the parking lot for the castle. I think “okay, we’ll park and then walk to the entrance. Great, here we go!” But he drives me to the entrance, points out the ticket booth and says to call him when I’m done. Confused, I get out of the car and go purchase a ticket. I walk around the grounds and read signs/info which was in English but I paid for a guide. It was also raining and I didn’t have an umbrella. I know I can’t fault the company for the poor weather. However, previous tours I’ve taken in many other locals, the tour company is usually prepared to help out silly guests who forget things. I’ve had your companies give me sunscreen before because I stupidly forgot. But no, not this group, you’re on your own. By the time I finished the first castle, I returned to the parking lot and called the driver. I asked him to take me back to the hotel because I was soaked. What was the point of carrying on. It also wasn’t what I paid for. I mentioned this to the guide and tried to not be mean spirited about it, just honest in saying it wasn’t what the description of the tour was on the app. I was really disappointed. So we drove back to the hotel in complete silence. And I was going to leave it at that. My bad for not having an umbrella or rain coat. I’ll take the hit and disappointment on that one. BUT THEN, the tour company unprovoked emails to tell me that it’s my fault that the tour didn’t go as expected because I didn’t request a guide. They said I would have to had to pay extra for a guide and they would have sent one if I’d just asked. Excuse me? Your description on Viator literally says “Personal tour guide” and “Learn about the castles from your guide”. Nowhere does it say the guide must be additionally requested. Nor is the tour marketed as a driver only service. The driver was kind and drove safely. That’s about all the good I can say for this experience. So solo travelers beware, you’re just paying for a really expensive Uber/Bolt ride. Just do yourself a favor and a rent a car instead! Don’t waste your money here.
Dear Rachel, We are very sorry for the tour not meeting your expectations. Finally we have investigated what has happened and apparently tour details what are provided to the client has been recently updated by TripAdvisor AI without our notion. There where added details that service is provided by the guide. But actually we are providing English speaking drivers and not licensed guides. Licensed guides can be booked at the sights for additional cost. Therefore we understand that tour description did not met actual service. To add to that for this service one of our new unexperienced employees was used which did not contribute to over all experience. Now we have corrected all misleading details about each of our products and made additional training for new driver. So hopefully such misfortunate events do not happen in the future. FIY Client can always ask money back if he is not satisfied with the service.
We asked for a 4 hour private tour because we like to sight see at our pace not as a "herd". Martins took us where the tour was scheduled to go and a lot more. We chose to not spend a lot of time at the 2 castles. We got some good pictures. We asked our guide where the locals eat and spent time experiencing Latvian food at a "local" restaurant - Lido. Then we drove around Riga to see the city buildings and statues. It was a perfect day for us. The food at Lido was delicious and reasonable. The flavors were amazing.
Dear Carol, Thank you very much for the review!
Excellent service and conversation. We appreciated all the ideas and recommendations in the area. Very safe riding.
The guide, Aldis made it very interesting and fun. He was knowledgeable about the castles as well as the history of Latvia.
Excellent half day tour as described. Really informative driver, Aldis, made this so memorable giving us a background to the history of the places we called at and information about Latvia and Riga. Thoroughly enjoyed getting out of the city to see the beautiful countryside that surrounds Riga and understanding more about Latvia and its history. The pickup from the hotel was on time and a comfortable and spotlessly clean minivan provided for the tour. Aldis was most professional and helpful throughout and it was an absolute joy to see a bit more of the country. Would highly recommend.
good to see the environment around Riga. castle visits were very interesting. Pick up and drop off were very good. A good trip
Thanks for the review!
Forests were beautiful. Castles were very interesting. Really enjoyed our conversation with the guide. The
Thank you for the review!
Selected the tour, for the castles. Excellent guide, most knowledgeable helpful and flexible for in-field options.
