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Siege of Cēsis Castle (1577) 1577

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Year1577Wikidata P580 (start time)
EraEarly modern (1500–1799)derived from year
LocationLatviaNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentEuropeNatural Earth
Coordinates57.3138, 25.2688Wikidata P625

About the battle

The siege of Cēsis Castle (1577) was a part of Ivan the Terrible's campaign to conquer Old Livonia. After a five-day-long bombardment, about 300 people within the castle committed mass suicide by blowing themselves up with four barrels of gunpowder. The event is regarded as one of the greatest tragedies in the war-torn Europe of the early modern period.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Cēsis Castle (1577) (revision 1372670616), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

57.3138, 25.2688 · Latvia

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Nearby battles

Browse more: battles in Latvia · Europe · Early modern battles

Further reading