On the left bank of the ancient Gauja River valley, between the Paparžu ravine and the ravine along which the Sigulda-Turaida road passes through the valley there are the ruins of a castle built by the Order of the Brethren of the Sword.  Construction on the castle began in 1207, and three decades later, in 1236, the castle was rebuilt for the needs of the Livonian Order.  The Sigulda Castle suffered much damage during wars in the late 16th and early 17th century.  During the Great Northern War, it was burned down and never restored.  What is there today is the south-western segment of the castle's convent building, as well as the tower of the main gate.  Beyond that is the internal forecastle, where there is an open-air stage for the annual Sigulda Opera Music Festival and other public events.  There are also impressive views of the ancient Gauja River valley, Krimulda and Turaida.  Reconstruction of the ruins is currently ongoing, and after the work is completed a second tower on the left side of the stage will be available to visitors.  The plan is to install crossings around the walls of the convent building.  Presently the ruins are available on a 24/7 basis and free of charge, but after the restorations are completed in 2012, admission will be charged.

The Rudbārži Estate was built at the request of Baroness Thea von Firks from the aristocratic dynasty.  After a reconstruction in 1883, the building became an ornate example of Mannerism and Renaissance architecture, with decorative finishing and a larger size.  On December 15, 1905, the building was torched by revolutionaries.  The restoration began three years later under the leadership of architect L. Reinier.  The castle has a holiday hall with two marble fireplaces, the parquet in some of the rooms dates back to the early 20th century, and the outdoor doors have metal engravings.  The castle was reconstructed in 1938.  It housed a German field hospital during World War II, while after the war it housed a school for forestry workers.  In 1962, the Rudbārži school moved into the building, which is now named after Oskars Kalpaks.  A commemorative plaque outside the building is devoted to the Kalpaks battalion.  During Latvia’s liberation battles, on January 22, 1919, the Bolsheviks occupied Skrunda, and seven days later, Kalpaks’ battalion attacked from the direction of the Rudbārži Estate.  After a three-hour battle, the victory was won, with the battalion taking over a strategic line near the banks of the Venta River.   This was the first victory for Kalpaks’ men after many retreats, and that inspired the rest of the liberation battles.

The Preiļi Estate is in the southern part of Preiļi. During the Soviet era, the mansion was home to a variety of institutions. A fire burned much of the upper part of the building in 1978. The mansion was never restored, and it can only be viewed from the outside. Around it, however, is one of Latvia’s most outstanding landscape parks (mid-19^th century). Irēna Kjarkuža offers interesting tours of the state, with interesting legends and songs in the Lettigalian language.

Muiža vēsturiskajos avotos ir minēta jau 1560. gadā. Tagad redzamā kungu māja ir celta no akmens 1805. g. Padomju laikos tajā atradās Matsalu rezervāta administrācija, bet mūsdienās ēkā ir izveidota viesnīca. Līdz muižai nokļūstam pa skaistu aleju, kuras apkaimē ir redzamas citas muižas kompleksa ēkas.

The castle was commissioned by Baron Alexander von Fittinghof and built between 1859 and 1863 in the late Tudor Neo-Gothic style.  It is one of the most important monuments to this style in Latvia and has an ornate limestone façade.  The 7th Sigulda Infantry Brigade was housed in the castle from 1921 until 1940.  Today it is home to the Alūksne Museum with a permanent exhibition and an “environmental labyrinth.”  One of the most unusual exhibits is a set of fluorescent minerals that can be viewed under lights with various spectrums.

Mooste Manor is located on the Mooste lakeshore. The attractive mansion is complemented by a large number of outbuildings in Historicist style, and a landscaped park in English style. The mansion houses the local school, the woodwork shop has become a guesthouse, the stable of workhorses is home to restorers, the manager´s house is the Centre for Art and Social Practice while the cattle shed is a concert hall today.

There are several buildings from the estate that survive to the present day and were built by the Plater dynasty of noblemen.  The old mansion that is on the side of the Count Plater Street was built in 1759 on the banks of the Jāņupīte River.  The Baroque building was designed by an architect from Venice, Antonio Parazzo.  Later the mansion was rebuilt, and after a new castle was erected, the Plater family spent its summers on the first floor of the old building.  The second and third floors had a library with some 20,000 books.  The noblemen managed to move most of the contents of the library to safer locations during World War I, when the library as such was destroyed.  Work on the new castle of the Krāslava Estate (on the upper part of the Daugava River Valley) began in 1756 (architect Domenico Parazzo).  Initially it was in the Baroque style, but reconstruction at the turn of the 18th century involved Classicism.  Unique Rococo wall paintings with views of Rome have been discovered in the building.  These were based on samples from castles in Poland and were painted during the 1760s and 1770.  A high school used the new castle until the 1970s.  Then the building was abandoned and gradually turned into a ruin.  More recently there has been major renovation of the castle’s façade, and it now has a good appearance.  Surrounding the structure is a romantic landscape park that dates back to the mid-18th century.  It is on the hillocks of the Daugava River Valley and the valleys that cross it.  An artificial grotto has been restored, and a statue of a lion stands guard over the site.  The stairway has been placed in its historical location, and the park features pathways and a yard.

The Šilute Estate is often described on the basis of its last owner, Hugo Scheu, who bought the estate in 1889.  He restored the estate's buildings and territory, also installing two parks, one for the estate, and the other one known as the "raven forest." Alongside the estate is an English-type park with strolling trails.  The park is used by local residents and is on both sides of the curvy Scheu River, with the banks connected by pedestrian bridges.  He park stretches to an old railroad bridge and has approximately 150 types of plants, including 40 types of trees and shrubs.

The Baisogalo Estate is one of the oldest ones in Lithuania and is known as a royal castle because it once belonged to the local lord.  The ornate late-Classicism buildings were built in the mid-19th century and have survived.  The 12 ha landscape park dates back to the early part of the 19th century, with an alley of chestnut trees leading to the estate from the local village.  The central alley that starts at the gate weaves through two curvy bodies of water with a bridge and statues of lions.  Various trees behind the estate are alongside curvy and narrow pathways.  On both sides of the alleys are bodies of water, and deep in the park is a pond with an island.