Mālpils Manor is among the most elegant monuments of Classicism found in Vidzeme. On the eve of its 250th anniversary it has reborn once again.
Surrounded by a beautiful landscape, Malpils Manor is located in a small, pleasant town, Mālpils, about 45 km east of Riga. Today Mālpils Manor is not only an outstanding monument of Classicism and a historical museum but also a four-storey luxury design hotel with 24 rooms, a restaurant and premises for celebrating memorable events.
The baroque park, the surrounding natural landscape and other buildings included in the manor complex offer various recreational opportunities.
There are tours on ancient-style bicycles to the local dairy plant to taste the renowned Malpils cheese. You can also enjoy romantic boat trips on the pond, country excursions in horse carts, and other interesting activities.
Nowadays the romantic Baroque park of Mālpils Manor has regained its charm – the unusual stillness and tranquility, the purling sound of the pond fountain and the overall atmosphere of antiquity. The manor surroundings accommodate a garden of flowers and aromatic herbs, two fountains, and ponds with blossoming waterlilies. The footpath benches were made from the trees growing in the same park. Baron von Taube’s obelisk has been renovated as well. Various leisure activities are offered: romantic outings in a wooden boat, drinking coffee in a little wooden teashed, walking on the lovers’ bridge.
Mālpils district, Mālpils, Pils iela 6, LV-2152
+371 67105555
info@malpilsmuiza.lv
www.malpilsmuiza.lv
Mālpils Manor is an outstanding sample of the 19th century Classical architecture featuring an extensive Baroque style park, picturesque landscape and a pond with a bubbly fountain and water lilies.
Mālpils Manor features a luxury-class design hotel and one of the best restaurants in Latvia. Its luxurious halls and parlours are perfect for hosting weddings, special celebrations as well as seminars and banquets.
For those who treasure exquisite taste and high quality Mālpils Manor is the best choice for enjoying slow relaxation and the surrounding artistic and historical values. This is the perfect place to enjoy beautiful moments.
HISTORY
15th century | First written evidence of the Livonian Order’s Mālpils Order Castle in historical documents dates back to 1413. It was founded approximately 150 m East of the Mālpils Lutheran Church.
17th century | In 1626, during the Polish-Swedish War, the Polish army exploded the Mālpils Order Castle while retreating. In 1625, during the Swedish rule in Vidzeme, Mālpils Manor was awarded to Colonel Nils Aserson Mannerskild; however, the Castle became property of the Swedish State as a result of manor reduction process that took place in the 1680s.
18th century | In 1753, Elizabeth of Russia conferred Mālpils Manor to Colonel Melgunov’s wife and a woman named Madam Strauss. In 1760, the new Squire’s House of Mālpils Manor was built in its current location. In the second half of the 18th century, Gustav Wilhelm von Taube, the Landrat of Vidzeme who owns the neighbouring Vite Manor, united Mālpils and Vite Manors. Both Manors have been united ever since. The Manor’s centre was built, and its park and pond were shaped. In 1775, after Landrat Gustav Wilhelm von Taube’s death, the Manor was inherited by his son Friedrich Wilhelm von Taube.
19th century | In 1806, Friedrich Wilhelm von Taube mortgaged the Manor to counsellor Wilhelm von Blakenhagen for 132’000 thalers. In 1820, Landrat Friedrich von Grote bought the Manor at an auction for 105’000 silver roubles, and in 1836 his son Alexander von Grote inherited the Manor.
20th century | In 1905, during the Russian Revolution, the squire’s house located in Mālpils Manor’s territory was set on fire during the night between 27 and 28 November. All wooden details burnt down, only masonry walls remained. The Manor’s former owner Alexander von Grote returned to the Manor after the riots were suppressed. He commissioned J. Mengels, a building contractor from Cēsis, to carry out renovation works during 1907–1911. The design project was developed by architect Wilhelm Boxlaf. In 1914, Elsa on Grote, Alexander von Grote’s daughter who was known to the public as the ‘Freulein’, inherited the Manor. The Manor was beautiful and well maintained during this time. After the Agrarian Reform that took place in 1920, Elsa von Grote was obliged to give up the majority of the Manor’s estate. She was left with 50 hectares of land, including the estate’s farm houses, mill, greenhouse, and the estate manager’s house. She kept the estate until the autumn of 1939 when she left for Germany.
After the Agrarian Reform of 1920, Mālpils Manor’s buildings were the home of a six-form elementary school. In 1929, the estate was handed over to the Latvian National Association of Retired Soldiers which resolved to set up sanatorium ‘Lāčplēši’ in the Manor’s premises. In 1935, Teodors Kerselis, accountant of Mālpils Dairy, bought Mālpils Manor’s buildings.
The Manor’s buildings were nationalized after Latvia’s occupation in 1940, and they became the premises of the Technical School of Home Economics (1940–1949). From 1949–1965 the premises functioned as Mālpils Technical Hydrotechnical Amelioration and Construction School. The Garden House was reconstructed to serve as students’ bedrooms. Washing premises and lavatories were set up in the former greenhouse, and the main doorway was walled up. The former stable and coach-house were turned into mechanical workshops and apartments. Other buildings of the Manor’s complex were also turned into apartments and workshops, and they gradually went to ruin. In 1965, Mālpils State Farm’s (Sovhoz) administration took over the former Manor building, and in 1966, Mālpils Agricultural and Amelioration Museum was set up here. In 1992, Mālpils Manor was given to Andris Kerselis, Teodor Kersel’s heir.
21st century | In 2003, Mālpils Manor was purchased by its current owner Aldis Plaudis. The Manor’s renovation works were launched in 2006, and finished in August 2008.
RENOVATION
Mālpils Manor was restored preserving its historical image to the maximum extent possible. The Manor’s renovation works were launched in 2006, and finished in August 2008. SIA LDU Izpētes un Projektēšanas Birojs KROKS was the author of Mālpils Manor’s renovation project, and its architect was Dita Lapiņa.
Flooring was renovated and replaced whereas walls, stairs and doors were restored during the makeover process. The Manor’s external facade was renovated as well. Damaged building structures (including finishing) were dismantled, roofing, slabs and risers were replaced, and new plumbing was installed during the overhaul. Voluminous landscaping works took place as well: access roads and streets were repaired. The Manor’s surrounding environment (the adjacent park territory) was tidied up and landscaped. Benches were set up, footpaths were paved, fountains were installed, the pond was cleaned, and greenery works were carried out in the entire territory. Fireplaces and several tile stoves were renovated in the Mālpils Manor’s Squire House. Old oak stairs, star parquet in the large dancing hall, and dark oak panel ceiling was restored. The Manor’s interior is enriched with antique Classicist and Biedermeier Style furniture, as well as antique paintings and other interior design objects.
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