Castle
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Lielstraupe Castle
Lielstraupe Castle in Straupe is unique in Latvia as one of the few medieval castles connected under a single roofline with an active parish church. Constructed in the late thirteenth century by the noble von Rosen family, the fortress endured medieval sieges, catastrophic fires, and Baroque conversions. From 1963 to 2018, the castle functioned as a specialized psychiatric and addiction treatment hospital, adding decades of intense human psychological anguish to its multi-century history. Visitors and former staff report phantom footsteps, white apparitions in church corridors, and heavy atmospheric cold spots.