Dobele Castle (Latvian: Dobeles pils, German: Ordensburg Doblen) is a castle in the town of Dobele in the historical region of Zemgale, Latvia. The Livonian order built the castle on the west bank of the Berze river in 1335, on the site of an old hillfort. The area surrounding Dobele castle was inhabited by Semigallians before and during the Livonian crusade. A hillfort provided protection for the settlement acting as the administrative center of Dobele county. It was first mentioned by written sources in 1254.
It endured six sieges by the Livonian order, but crusaders never managed to capture the fort. In 1289, after the crusaders had adopted a scorched earth policy and famine had struck the region, the remaining Semigallians burned their fort to the ground and migrated to Lithuania. The Dobele hillfort was one of the last Semigallian fortresses in the territory of Latvia.
Photogrammetry reconstruction in RealityCapture from 1485 images. © Saulius Zaura www.dronepartner.lt 2023
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