Laiuse Lais

The Livonian Order founded Laiuse in the late 1300s to guard its eastern frontier, and in the 1400s it gained massive round cannon towers, the first castle in Estonia built for firearms. Ivan the Terrible’s troops seized and wrecked it in 1558–1559. In the winter of 1700–1701 the Swedish king Charles XII made his winter quarters here.

Built / first recorded

c. 1400

Style

Late Gothic castellum with cannon towers

Condition

Lost 1704

County

Jõgeva County · Laiuse

German name

Lais

Owners

• Liivi ordu1400–1558
• Moskva tsaaririik1558–1582
• Poola-Leedu1582–1622
• Rootsi1622–1704

Good to know

• The northwest tower is 14 m across with walls up to 4 m thick.
• In 1600 it held out for four weeks against a Swedish siege.
• Charles XII spent five months of 1700–1701 here in wooden barracks.

Photos through time

Nearby