Temple Hill is steep (with artificially created steepness) and about 30 m high, and it is opposite Marijas Island. It is an ancient Lettigalian castle hill, 80 m long and 40 m wide, with several artificial ramparts. One of the oldest objects found in the region is an axe from the 2nd to 3rd millennium BC. Archaeologists believe that the island was populated at that time. There was a Lettigalian castle on the hill during the 10th and 11th century, but it was sacked by the Holy Crusade. The surface of the castle hill was transformed comparatively recently in 1807, when a granite rotunda was built there in honour of Russian Field Marshall Sheremetev and Swedish captain Wulff. The view of Lake Alūksne and the town is one of the most beautiful ones in all Vidzeme. The Sun Bridge (1937) is also worth a look. A wooden viewing platform is nearby.
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Temple Hill is situated on the south-western part of the Cemetery Peninsula. In 1807 a granite rotunda or temple of glory was built on the hill in honour of the faithful fighters of the Northern War - Swedish Captain Wolf and Russian Field-Marshal Sheremetiev. One of the most popular of the many legends tells that during the war the warriors had brought soil to the Temple Hill in their hats to have a better shooting range across the lake to the Aluksne Castle. To make the surroundings of the town more beautiful and attractive, the Tourism Committee started to build different objects in 1937. The Sun Bridge on the Temple Hill was built in 1938, restored in 1995.
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