Alūksne - Lake Alūksne

Alūksne (German: Marienburg) is situated on Lake Alūksne near the border with Estonia and Russia.

The area was conquered by the German crusaders of the Livonian Order in 1224. They built a wooden castle called Marienburg on a nearby island in 1284, which was replaced by a stone castle in 1342. The town that developed near the castle also became known as Marienburg.

Marienburg was captured by the troops of Ivan IV of Russia in 1560 during the Livonian War. In 1582 it was incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1629, the city became part of the Swedish Empire.

During the Great Northern War, the Russian army captured the town, the castle was still occupied by the Swedes and was blown up because the Swedes did not want to surrender the fortress to the Russians.

The Russians deported all the inhabitants of Marienburg to Russia. Below the deported was Ernst Glück, a Lutheran clergyman and the first translator of the Bible into Latvian. With him was his foster daughter Marta Skavronska, who later became Empress Catherine I of Russia.

Seen to the right are ruins of the blown-up castle.