Karte

Historic chronicles dating from 1125 tell of the Livonian Castle, Metsepole, located on the right bank of the Rūja River, about 3 km from the current centre of the town, and how it was destroyed by invading forces from Saaremaa. The wooden Livo¬nian castle was replaced by a castle built by Teutonic Order Master Burchard von Hornhausen in 1263. A substantial settlement was established around the castle and named Rujene.
Rūjiena was a busy settlement in the past as is attested to by mention of clothing woven by the locals and worn by the Russian Grand Dukes of Pskov, Novgorod, and Moscow. The inhabitants continued to weave fabric for jackets during the time of Ivan the Terrible. Rūjiena was destroyed by Ivan the Terrible's grandfather, Ivan III in 1481. Rūjiena quickly recovered. Teutonic Order Master Walter von Plettenberg called a provincial assem¬bly to try Archbishop Johannes Blankenfeld VII for his relationship with Russia.
In September 1560, the Russian army under Ivan the Terrible destroyed Rūjiena Castle and the town. After Vidzeme was partitioned to Poland in 1562, the Polish king Sigismund August presented Rūjiena to his brother-in-law, Swedish prince John. In 1622, Gustav Adolph liened it to his financial administrator, Jasper Mattsson Krus. Rūjiena Castle was completely destroyed during the Great Northern War in 1704. Time has destroyed what little was left, and many of the remaining stones were taken by locals to build the dam for the mill.

• County: Rujiena
• Address: Rūjiena, Rūjienas novads
• Contact person: -

• Web page: http://www.rujiena.lv
• Phone number: 
• E-mail: -