The Tukums Castle Tower is the city’s oldest stone building and a historic remnant of the Livonian Order’s castle. Today, it houses the Tukums City History Museum, which is open to pupils and families and where they can learn about the city’s history, the stories of Tukums residents, and view historical displays and exhibitions.

🏰 About Tukums Castle Tower

Tukums Castle Tower is located in the oldest stone building in the city and is part of the Livonian Order castle, which was destroyed and restored several times. The tower once served as a prison and warehouse, but since 1995 it has housed a museum that reflects the history of the city, telling about Tukums and the people of Tukums.

On July 15, 1995—during the first Tukums City Festival—the Tukums City History Museum “Pils tornis” was opened.

Since 2023, the Tukums Castle Tower has been a member of the Association of Castles and Museums of the Baltic Sea Region.

🖼️ Exhibitions and Displays

📚 Exhibition “Tukums: City of Literature”

📅 On view through July 11, 2027.

The exhibition invites visitors to see the city as a living cultural space, where literature is not merely written text, but an ongoing dialogue between place, people, and time.

Tukums is a city with its own distinctive streets, buildings, rooftops, and scenery. Tukums is known as a city of art and roses, but its literary heritage is less well known.

In literature, Tukums is portrayed as a town of hills, tiled roofs, sheds, and roses—a place where quiet beauty reigns. It was right here, 400 years ago, that literary activity began.

Its rich literary heritage, literary traditions, and contemporary cultural activities led Tukums to achieve significant international recognition in 2023 —the city was included in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a City of Literature.

🏛️ Exhibition “Our Stories, Not Others’”

The exhibition reflects on 20th-century historical events in Tukums and the stories of people’s lives within the context of Latvia, the Baltic states, and Europe, organized into six thematic sections.

Each period is highlighted by an object that has its own special story. These objects were donated to the museum by many residents of Tukums.

✉️ Interactive exhibition “Letters on Birch Bark”

The interactive exhibition “Letters to the Future” features letters from Siberia written on birch bark. It provides information about the authors of the letters and their recipients, who, due to their social activism, civic stance, or acts of resistance, were deemed undesirable by the Soviet authorities, were arrested and punished after World War II or deported to Siberia on June 14, 1941, or March 25, 1949.

The exhibition reflects the life stories of the letter writers and recipients and attests to their ability to survive, resist, and maintain their self-respect and sense of belonging to their people.

🎓 Educational Programs

🎟️ Prices

Admission Fee

• Forpupils – free
• Adults – 1.50 EUR
• Preschoolers and chaperones accompanying school groups (up to two) – free

Museum tours

Guided tour for up to 20 people (1 hour):

• In Latvian – 20.00 EUR
• In a foreign language – 22.00 EUR

Themed tour for up to 20 people (1 hour):

• In Latvian – 24.00 EUR

Off-site tour for up to 20 people (1 hour):

• In Latvian – 20.00 EUR