Basic HTML Version
30
Ieva Ose
Stove Tile Ceramics of the Turaida Castle,
16
th
–18
th
centuries
Summary
e Turaida Museum Reserve holds more than 7500 fragments of stove tiles, the majority of which
was found in the Turaida castle ruins, in 1974, as well as in the period from 1976–1999 during extensive
archaeological investigations under the guidance of Professor Jānis Graudonis (1913–2005).Around 100 finds
were collected in 1953, 1968 and 2002 during several small-scale excavations or archaeological monitoring
performed in the castle yard. It is one of the largest collections of post-medieval stove ceramics in Latvia.
e finds provide evidence about heating devices used in the castle in the course of three centuries. In
Turaida – one of the castles of Riga Archbishopric, built in the 13
th
century – the most ancient stove ceramic
finds are tiles of the Late Gothic style, which date back to the first three decades of the 16
th
century. In the
Archbishopric of Riga, in the course of its existence, until the
1560s, there were built also stoves in the style
of Renaissance. During the LivonianWar (1558–1583), the Turaida castle came under the rule of Poland and
the centre of starostwo was established there.e rooms were heated with stoves decorated in the Mannerist
style. In 1620s, Turaida and all Vidzeme came under the rule of Sweden and the castle became an economic
centre. During that period, stoves were built in the style of Mannerism and Early Baroque. During the Great
Northern War (1700–1721), the north-eastern part of Latvia, where Turaida was located, was annexed to
Russia and the castle became a landlord`s residence until it was deserted aer the fire in 1776. e castle
was heated with stoves built in the Baroque style.
When investigation of this collection was started, a catalogue of decorative motives of stove ceramics
was compiled, which is included in this publication. ere are few written evidences on tile that existed in
the castle.
Scarce information about Turaida castle stoves is found in two inventory records. In 1590, the Polish
auditors mentioned fireplaces, or stoves, concerning several castle rooms. Unfortunately, it is impossible to
determine their precise location because except for a few towers the other overground castle rooms are not
preserved. Information provided by records is very brief – a stove, or a small stove, is shortly mentioned
characterising them as “simple” or “green” (in Polish original – piec prosty, piecek prosty, piec zielony). us,
the conclusion can be drawn that at least one stove has been noticeably smaller in size because it is named
‘a small stove’. It is possible, that ten above mentioned “simple stoves” were built from cheap unglazed and
undecorated dish-shaped vessel-tiles with quadrangular opening, whereas two “green stoves” in the hall of
the second floor were built from green glazed tiles with a bas-relief decoration. Unfortunately, there is no
information whether the stoves were built recently or have been in use already for several decades.
In 1624, the Turaida castle was inspected by a Swedish auditor. According to description, it seems that
already at that time a part of the old rooms was uninhabited.ese records mention several bath-houses with