The Livonian Order built Ventspils Castle in Latvia, with the infobox dating it to 1290 and the text to the second half of the thirteenth century. The order controlled it until the mid-sixteenth century. It was later rebuilt as a convent-type building around a rectangular courtyard, and a baroque-style spire was added to the tower in 1798. Within the Duchy of Courland, it was the residence of the city master.
The Polish-Swedish War destroyed it, leaving only the freestanding tower, and it was rebuilt in the 1650s. The chapel served as a Lutheran church from 1706 to 1835 and a Russian Orthodox church from 1845 to 1901. The third floor became a prison in 1832, which closed in 1959, and the Soviet Army border patrol used the castle until the 1980s.
It was restored in the late 1990s. Visitors can climb the five-floor tower, and the castle is now a museum.
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