Ezere Manor Ensemble and Park

The ensemble of the Vadakste Manor took shape in the late 18th century and 19th century. The house has been reconstructed several times. In 1950, an extension was built to accommodate a school. Currently the manor houses the Ezere Secondary School. Spectacular Empire style architecture of the auxiliary buildings, the stables, feature motifs of the arches of triumph and Doric columns. During the Soviet era the stables accommodated collective farm workshops. A legend has it that underground passages lead to secret cellars under the house. People who had disobeyed the Baron disappeared in the cellars, having stepped onto a secret stone slab. That was also the fate of Ezere, a fiancé to the Baron's son. She, however, was a witch and brought back to life all the victims who then chased the Baron out of his own castle and made Ezere their mistress. The park lies (24ha) near the Ezere Manor, on the right bank of the Vadakste, a border river between Latvia and Lithuania. The park was laid out in the mid-19th century and has about 36 different there is a pine with a witch's broom, 1.5 m in diameter. The so called Great Boulder (4.2 m high) in the south-western part of the park is also titled the Ruler of Vadakste. The name of the estate manager von Toll and the numbers "1845-1855" have been carved on the boulder's surface. The story has it that the numbers might indicate the time it took to roll the boulder from the banks of the Vadakste to the park, or the period when the park was created.