Valmiera Municipality
Hanseatic League member (14th-16th century), second-largest Teutonic center after Cēsis. Peter the Great destroyed it in 1702; residents recycled the stones.
Valmiera's castle stones are scattered throughout the city—literally built into houses on Rīgas Street. When Peter the Great destroyed the Livonian Order fortress in 1702, residents were allowed to scavenge the rubble. The medieval walls became 18th-century foundations.
The Order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword built the original castle around 1224, probably atop an ancient Latgalian fortification. After the disastrous Battle of Saule (1236) destroyed the Brothers, the newly formed Livonian Order inherited Valmiera and expanded it. By the mid-14th century, Wolmar (the German name) was the second-largest Teutonic center in northern Latvia after Wenden (Cēsis). Stone defensive walls enclosed a Hanseatic League member town.
The Hansa connection brought trade and prosperity from the 14th through 16th centuries. Valmiera sat on the Gauja, which connected interior trade routes to Baltic ports. Then came the wars: Livonian, Polish-Swedish, and finally Peter's Northern War, which ended medieval Valmiera permanently.
Today one section of castle wall remains. The ruins house Valmiera Museum. By 2026, the question is whether craft beer (Valmiermuiža is Latvia's most celebrated craft brewery) can generate as much identity as crusader stone.