Padise

Padise in western Estonia was the site of a Cistercian monastery settled by monks from Dünamünde in 1310. During the St George's Night uprising in 1343, the partly built monastery was burned and members of its community were killed. Rebuilding began after 1370, and the main building was consecrated in 1448. By the fifteenth century the abbey held extensive estates in Estonia and southern Finland. The Livonian War ended its monastic life: in 1559 Gotthard Kettler dissolved the house and converted it into a fortress. Swedish and Russian forces subsequently fought over it. In 1622 Sweden granted the former abbey estates to Thomas Ramm, whose family made the buildings a country residence until a fire in 1766.