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SIGULDA , dotted with parks and clustered above the southern bank of the River Gauja, around 50km northeast of Riga, is the Gauja National Park's main centre and makes a good jumping-off point for exploring the rest of the Gauja Valley. From the train station Raina iela runs north into town, passing the bus station on the way. After about 800m a right turn into Baznica iela brings you to Sigulda Church (Siguldas Baznica), built over seven hundred years ago, though much altered since. A left turn after the church leads, by way of Sigulda New Castle (Siguldas Jauna Pils), a nineteenth-century manor house masquerading as a medieval castle, to the ruins of Sigulda Castle (Siguldas Pilsdrupas), a former stronghold of the Knights of the Sword. From here you can admire Turaida Castle (Turaidas Pils), perched on a bluff 3km away at the far side of the densely wooded Gauja Valley. To get there, you can catch one of the Turaida or Krimulda buses from Sigulda bus station, or walk there in about 45 minutes. Begin the walk by taking J. Poruka iela northwest from Sigulda church, and descending the wooden staircase at the end to the bridge across the Gauja river. On the far side of the bridge an asphalted path slopes down to the left, and runs past several sandstone caves before rejoining the main road just short of Turaida itself. Built on the site of an earlier stronghold by the bishop of Riga in 1214, Turaida Castle was destroyed when lightning hit its gunpowder magazine during the eighteenth century. The pristine state of much of its brickwork attests to the fact that it has been extensively restored, and these days it houses a local history museum (Tues-Sun 10am-5/6pm; 0.80Ls). Just before the castle is the eighteenth-century Turaidas Church (Turaidas Baznicas), an appealing little wooden church with a Baroque tower that's one of the best-preserved examples of Latvian native architecture in the country.
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