The lake settlement of Araishi as an archaeological monument is known since 1876. Later (1959-1964), when similar settlements were discovered on 9 more lakes in Vidzeme, it was Araishi that were chosen for large-scale archaeological excavations. The archaeological expedition of the Institute of History of Latvia under the leadership of J. Apals for 10 field seasons (1965-1969; 1975-1979) examined three quarters of 2500 sq.m. the area of ​​the lake settlement, as well as the road connecting it with the shore of the lake.

The castle was built on a lake, and not on a hill, which is enough in the vicinity of Araishi, due to the conditions of the era. The fact is that Latgals in the 9th century. were aliens in this area, and for them it was fundamentally important to equip themselves a fortified settlement as soon as possible. Because the productivity of woodworking tools was much higher than that of wooden shovels, bast baskets, etc., used when digging and moving the earth, then a lake castle could be built faster than equipping a hillfort. The first Araish lake castle was built in just 4 years.

The lake castle was located in the middle of Lake Araišu (Latvia) from the 9th to the 10th centuries, and was abandoned by the inhabitants by the time the crusaders arrived (which happened at the end of the 12th century). However, modern scholars have restored it from nonexistence. At the end of the 20th century, at the same place, in real size, the first, oldest and best-preserved building of the Araysh Lake Castle was reconstructed in about 830.

Excavations revealed that the Araish lake settlement was built and lived in it in the 9-10th centuries. community of Latgals – the largest of the ancient Latvian tribes. The settlement was located on a lowland island flooded with lake waters and was fortified like a fortification. The remains of wooden buildings are well preserved in the wet cultural layer, which made it possible to restore the layout of the settlement as a whole, as well as to find out the design features of individual buildings. The cultural layer of the settlement contained 5 consecutive construction horizons without chronological gaps.

The lake settlement of Araishi is the first such extensively studied and reconstructed archaeological monument of this type in northeastern Europe. The moist cultural layer ensured the safety of not only buildings, but also numerous objects made of organic materials (wood, bast, birch bark), among which there are finds of important scientific and cultural-historical significance.

Given this, it was decided to recreate the lake settlement, as the basis of an open-air archaeological museum-reserve. For reconstruction, the oldest, most preserved building complex of the 9th century was chosen. The reconstruction of the settlement continues at the present time. The lower parts of the buildings are restored as copies of the original surviving structures; the top of buildings is reconstructed on the basis of building details found in the cultural layer, ethnographic parallels, and also based on the constructive logic of the structure. Thus, the reconstruction of the Araish lake settlement is distinguished by a high degree of historical reliability.

The authors of the project are archaeologist J. Apals and architect Dz.Driba
(Source – museum stand at the entrance to the settlement)
The authors of the project are archaeologist J. Apals and architect Dz.Driba
(Source – museum stand at the entrance to the settlement)