Lihula is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Lääneranna Parish Lääneranna Parish () is a rural municipality in Pärnu County. It includes the town of Lihula. Gallery Lihula.jpg, Lihula town Kõima mõisa peahoone.jpg, Kõima manor in Kõima village Virtsu lighthouse 1.jpg, Lighthouse in Virtsu Settl ...

Pärnu County Pärnu County ( or ''Pärnumaa''; ) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in the south-western part of the country, on the coast of Gulf of Riga, and borders Lääne and Rapla counties to the north, Järva and Viljandi counties to ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Lihula Castle

Lihula Castle () was first mentioned in 1211, but it appears the site was used as a fortress since the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

. In 1220, a Swedish army started constructing a castle here, but were defeated by Estonian forces on 8 August 1220, in the

Battle of Lihula The Battle of Lihula or Battle of Leal was fought between invading Sweden, Swedes and Estonians for the control of a castle in Lihula, Estonia in 1220. The exact date remains uncertain, though some historians suggest that the battle took place ...

. In 1238, however, the bishop of Saare-Lääne () constructed a crusader fortress at the site, in cooperation with the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

. This attempt was more successful and the castle became one of the residences of the bishop. The Teutonic Order also used the castle as a centre of their

commandry In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

between 1241 and 1477. In 1560, the estate was reportedly granted to alderman Gerdt Bellingshausen by

Duke Magnus of Holstein Magnus of Denmark or Magnus of Holstein ( – ) was a Prince of Denmark, Duke of Holstein, and a member of the House of Oldenburg. As a vassal of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, he was the titular King of Livonia from 1570 to 1578. Early life Duke Magn ...

. In the course of the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) concerned control of Terra Mariana, Old Livonia (in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia). The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Denmark–Norway, Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom ...

, the castle was destroyed.

Lihula Manor

Despite the fact that the castle was destroyed during the Livonian War, a new manorial estate grew up right next to the original location thereafter. In the 1630s, it was recorded as the property of the Swedish general

Åke Tott Åke is a Male, masculine Sweden, Swedish given name, possibly derived from the Germany in the Middle Ages, medieval Germanic name ''Anicho'', derived from ''ano'' meaning "ancestor". In Sweden, May 8 is the Name day for Åke. There are variant ...

. The manor stayed in the Tott family until 1684, after which it belonged to various aristocratic families. The present

neoclassicist Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

manor house was built in the early 19th century.

Episcopal see

From 1211, it was the see of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Leal Diocese of Leal or Bishopric of Estonia was the name of the main Latin diocese in Estonia during the early Catholic missionary phase. History It was established in 1211, with episcopal see in Leal (today Lihula). The two known bishops were F ...

(also known as bishopric of Estonia), which was however suppressed as such in 1235, to establish on the same territory the

Diocese of Dorpat The Bishopric of Dorpat was a medieval prince-bishopric, i.e. both a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and a temporal principality ruled by the bishop of the diocese. It existed from 1211 until 1558, generally encompassing the area that now co ...

, a

prince-bishopric A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to ''Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the Bi ...

, which lasted till 1558, falling victim to the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

Lihula Monument

For less than two weeks, Luhila had a

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

honoring Estonian soldiers who fought in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

against the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. By order of Prime Minister

Juhan Parts Juhan Parts ((, born 27 August 1966) is an Estonian politician who was Prime Minister of Estonia from 2003 to 2005 and Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications from 2007 to 2014. Juhan Parts is a member of Isamaa party. Education Born ...

, the monument was removed. As of June 2007, it stands in the private

Museum of Fight for Estonia's Freedom Museum of Fight for Estonia's Freedom () is a privately owned museum in Lagedi, near Tallinn. It specialises on exhibits of World War II battles on Estonian soil, or involving Estonian soldiers. Monument of Lihula The museum is the current ...

Lagedi Lagedi () is a small borough () in Rae Parish, Harju County, northern Estonia. As of 2022, the settlement's population was 1,083. Lagedi has a station on the Elron's eastern route. Lagedi was the site of a slave-labor camp during German occupa ...

, near

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Gallery

File:Lihula linnus 4.jpg, Lihula Castle ruins File:Lihula linnus 3.JPG, Lihula Castle ruins File:Lihula linnus 1.JPG, Lihula Castle ruins File:Lihula linnus.JPG, Lihula Castle ruins File:Lihula manor house 24Sep2008.jpg, Lihula manor File:Lihula kirik 2005.jpg, St. Elizabeth's Church in Lihula File:Lihula (2).jpg, Aerial view of Lihula, with the cultural center in the foreground and Lihula Manor in the background

References

External links

*
Lihula castle and manor
at Estonian Manors Portal {{Authority control Cities and towns in Estonia Former municipalities of Estonia Kreis Wiek