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connection of Johann Treiden with Turaida is doubtful. In written sources until now information has
been found only about two persons who could have participated in the construction of Turaida Castle.
One of them is building master Hans from Braunschweig, mentioned by Riga Archbishop Wilhelm in his
letters of 1538 and 1545, and the other one – Jurgen Kahr, peasant and mason (murmeister) of Turaida
Estate, mentioned in a court document of 1572 (Turaida 2014, Nr. 264, 330, 466).
It is unknown from where bricks were obtained for the construction works at Turaida Castle
during the Swedish times, in the 17th century. However, the written sources contain evidence that in the
18th century there was no brick-kiln at Turaida Estate. In the year 1724 audit record of the estate it is
even noted that no brick baking is performed (materials of historical investigation of Turaida, made by
Māra Caune in 1989, are kept in the archives of Turaida Museum Reserve). In 1744, bricks for Turaida,
Krimulda/Kremon, Inciems/Hinzenberg and other estates were provided by the Unguri/Ungershof brick-
kiln (Zeida 1962, 150, 151). This brick-kiln at Ungershof Estate, belonging to Campenhausens, mostly
worked for the market of Vidzeme region – less than a half of the production was made for their own
needs, but the other part of bricks was sold for buildings under construction in other estates in a radius
of dozens of kilometres, and they were also taken to South Estonia.
According to old folk’s stories, the most ancient brick-kiln in Turaida was situated north-westwards
from Jelgavkalns Hill, in a place called Ķiegeļu kalniņš (Brick Hillock) or Jāņkalns. Eastwards from the
cattle-shed of the estate, on the edge of the wood, there are seen overgrown old pits where clay had been
dug, called “pits of knights” by the local folk (Kalniņa, Kreišmane, Druģis. Materials on the brick-kiln
of Turaida, 1980–1993; kept in the archives of Turaida Museum Reserve). In summer 2014, small-scale
excavations were made in Jāņkalns during which 15th –16th century kiln waste pieces were found as well
as a paved brick covering and a thick bank of brick fragments. More detailed information about these
investigations is provided in the report by Egils Jemeļjanovs, following the catalogue.
The most ancient written data about Turaida brick-kiln have been found only from the 19th century.
In the record listing the property of Baron Lorenz von Campenhausen, having died in 1830, a brick
oven with a shingle roof was mentioned, established in 1826, and two brick barns built in 1826 and 1827
where the pugging machine, bricks, and roof tiles were stored (M. Caune, Turaidas pils muiža. 1989 –
unpublished materials in the archives of Turaida Museum Reserve). Supposedly, this brick-kiln was
situated at a distance of about a kilometre northwards from the medieval castle – in the place where the
new orchard of the estate was established at the beginning of the 20th century, according to unpublished
materials in the archives of Turaida Museum Reserve.
In the same report it is mentioned that the last brick-kiln at Turaida Estate was established in 1913
and it remained in operation till the mid-20th century. Its chimney has been preserved until the present
day, it is situated in the wood about half a kilometre eastwards from the former new dwelling house of
Turaida Estate manager – the building of the present administration of the Museum Reserve. After the
Second World War, in 1957–1959, geological investigation results showed that the clay deposit of Turaida
includes the stratum of Upper Devonian rocks and a Quaternary layer. The Devonian clay of the Gauja
Suite in the ground is distributed in the form of multi-direction layers and it is suitable for brick produc-
tion when they are burnt at the temperature of 1000–1050° C. However, the quality of clay is different in
various layers, and therefore it was decided not to resume industrial production at that time.
Ieva Ose. Building ceramics of Turaida Castle in the 13th–17th centuries