Location: Narva Map
Constructed: 1346
Info: Puskini 12, 356 0184
Tel. (+372) 359 9230
Narva Museum
359 9245
Open: 10am- 6pm daily
Narva Castle is one of the most important and notable citadels in this part of the World despite its modest size. Narva Castle was constructed in the 13th century by the Danish forces after the conquered this region of the Baltic sea. In 1346 the wooden structure was replaced by a stone stronghold. Later Tall Hermann Tower was added that reached a height of 51 meters. It changed hands several times so it was known locally under several names including Hermann (Herman) Castle and Hermannsburg. It became an important citadel in the Northern War between Russian and Swedish Empires. Eventually Russian troops took Narva Castle in the early 18th century. Over time military technology made the Narva Fortress obsolete. Today the castle houses a local museum and many handicraft workshops.
Narva fortress, Narva fortress convention building, Pika Hermann tower, Narva fortress Great Stone Hall, Victoria and Honor bastions.
The first reports of the Narva fortress built by the Danes date back to
1254, which was originally located across the Narva river opposite the
current fortress. The castle may have been built in the 1220s - so right
after the conquest of Virumaa to protect the eastern border of the
Danish possessions. The later fort was built on the west bank of the
Narva River in the same place where the earlier Estonian fort was
supposed to be located and which was noted in the Danish assessment book
near the village of Narvia.
About the year 1277, documents
confirm that Eylard de Oberge, the representative of the Danish king,
named himself commander of Estonia, Narva and Tallinn (capitaneus per
Estoniam, Narwiam atque Revaliam). Experts in the history of Narva have
come up with the idea that Narva may have been the only city in Estonia
that was not created around a fortress, but developed from a village.
In 1294, the troops of the prince of Novgorod burned the Narva
fortress.
The oldest parts of the current fortress date back to
around 1300, when the Danes started building a castell-like
fortification in place of the previous wooden fortress. In its northwest
corner stood a quadrangular tower - the predecessor of today's Long
Hermann Tower.
During the 14th century, the castle was expanded.
First, a small forecourt was built on the north side of the castle, and
in 1341-1342, a large forecourt on the west side was built. In general
terms, all later additions and reconstructions were based on the basic
plan of that time.
On April 1, 1342, Russian troops burned the
fortress and town of Narva for the second time, breaking into the
fortress during mass and killing all the townspeople.
The castle
and the city were quickly restored, because already on July 25, 1345,
the Danish king Valdemar IV Atterdag confirmed Lübeck city rights to
Narva, but it is assumed that Narva received city rights already during
the reign of King Valdemar III.
In 1346, the castle of Narva was
taken over by the Livonian Order and the castle was rebuilt into a
convention building. A well dancer was added to the river side. Another
dansker was built on the west wall. The different wings of the
convention building were connected to the wooden gallery surrounding the
courtyard.
The long Hermann Tower was raised at the end of the
15th and 16th centuries in order to get a better view of what was going
on in the Jaanilinna fortress, founded in 1492.
On April 1, 1558,
the bombardment of Narva began from Jaanilinna. On May 11, a big fire
broke out in Narva. Russian troops took advantage of the confusion and
captured the city, but could not capture the fortress. An agreement was
reached with the defenders of the fortress and they were allowed to
leave freely.
From 1559 to 1581, the fortress was in the
possession of the Moscow Tsarist state.
On September 6, 1581, the
Swedes conquered Narva, occupied the fortress and adapted the refectory
located in the west wing of the old convention building into the
residence of the deputy administrator. For this, new large window
openings were also broken into the walls. In 1586, the Great Stone Hall
in the western courtyard was built.
In 1593, gunpowder exploded
in Pika Hermann's tower, but the tower was repaired in 1638. In the same
year, the now demolished arsenal was also built in the western
forecourt.
The Swedish authorities also planned the system of
Narva bastions surrounding the castle to complement the fortress
buildings, which included eight bastions, of which the Swedes managed to
build six bastions and in addition to them the bastion-like
fortification Spes ('Hope'), which was located in front of the southern
wall of the fortress, and the planned half-bastion in the northeast
corner of the fortress was also not completed called Justitia
('Justice'). To this day, the best preserved of the bastions are the Pax
bastion/Wrangel bastion and the bastions: Victoria bastion, Honori
bastion, Gloria bastion, Fortuna bastion, the southern wall of the
Triumph bastion, the Fama bastion, has not been preserved.
At the
beginning of the 19th century, the archives of the Narva fortress were
sold to a local herring merchant.
In the middle of the 19th
century, the fortress was restored according to the project of the
military architect Modest Rezvoi, but the Crimean War interrupted the
work. In the western forecourt, a garrison sauna was built in the 1850s,
and in the 1860s, the Nikolai church-manege was built.
During the
Republic of Estonia, a unit of the 1st Infantry Regiment was located in
Narva's Hermann Fortress.
During the Second World War, the castle
was heavily damaged. Restoration works have been taking place in the
fortress since the 1950s. The Garrison sauna building was finally
demolished in 1995. The east wing of the convention building is still
unfinished.
In 2007, the northern courtyard of the castle was
restored and it was also designed to imitate the early modern
craftsmen's quarter of the 17th century. The simulated district is
called the North Yard.