Lihula

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Town in Estonia

title: "Lihula" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cities-and-towns-in-estonia", "former-municipalities-of-estonia", "kreis-wiek"] description: "Town in Estonia" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lihula" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Town in Estonia ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Drone_video_of_ruins_of_Lihula_stronghold,the_manor_and_town(august_2021).webm" caption="Drone video of Lihula stronghold, the manor and town (August 2021)"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Lihula.jpg" caption="Street in Lihula"] ::

Lihula is a town in Lääneranna Parish, Pärnu County, Estonia.

Lihula Castle

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

In 1238, however, the bishop of Saare-Lääne () constructed a crusader fortress at the site, in cooperation with the Teutonic Order. 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 between 1241 and 1477. In 1560, the estate was reportedly granted to alderman Gerdt Bellingshausen by Duke Magnus of Holstein. In the course of the Livonian War, the castle was destroyed.

Lihula Manor

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Roheline_Lihula.jpg" caption="The main street of Lihula"] ::

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. The manor stayed in the Tott family until 1684, after which it belonged to various aristocratic families. The present neoclassicist manor house was built in the early 19th century.

Episcopal see

From 1211, it was the see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leal (also known as bishopric of Estonia), which was however suppressed as such in 1235, to establish on the same territory the Diocese of Dorpat, a prince-bishopric, which lasted till 1558, falling victim to the Reformation.

Lihula Monument

For less than two weeks, Luhila had a monument honoring Estonian soldiers who fought in the Wehrmacht against the Soviet Union during World War II.

By order of Prime Minister Juhan Parts, the monument was removed. As of June 2007, it stands in the private Museum of Fight for Estonia's Freedom in Lagedi, near Tallinn.

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

Viirand, Tiiu. (2004). "Estonia. Cultural Tourism". Kunst Publishers.
Harrison, Dick. (2005). "Gud vill det! - Nordiska korsfarare under medeltid". Ordfront.
Crispinsson, John. (2011). "Den glömda historien". Norstedts.
Hein, Ants. (2009). "Eesti Mõisad - Herrenhäuser in Estland - Estonian Manor Houses". Tänapäev.
Sakk, Ivar. (2004). "Estonian Manors - A Travelogue". Sakk & Sakk OÜ.
Hein, Ants. (2009). "Eesti Mõisad - Herrenhäuser in Estland - Estonian Manor Houses". Tänapäev.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::