Bishop's Castle - the pride and beauty of the town of Kuressaare. It is the only castle in the Baltic countries, entirely preserved in its medieval form to our times. The castle is a square building, measuring 42h42, 5 m, with a 40-meter guard towers and powerful bastions.

It is assumed that the first fortress was built by the Danes in 1222 g, in the center of the courtyard of the fortress located watchtower, now tower Long Herman. This structure not only performs the role of a watchtower, but still could be the last refuge for a small number of defenders in the event of an invasion into the territory of the enemy fortress.

It is estimated that since the middle of the XIV century the castle was the residence of the bishop of Saare-Lyaenemaskogo after Haapsalu. The main building of the fortress, as we see it today, came in the 1345-1365 biennium.

In the 1430s the castle was built around the bypass wall. Its complementary semi-circular tower with loopholes for guns gunshot. In 1559 the fortress was sold last Kuressaare Bishop Johann von Munchausen possession of Danish King Frederick II. The Danish king, in turn, handed Saaremaskoe Bishopric together with the Kuressaare Castle to his younger brother Duke Magnus.

At the end of the XVI century were built the first earthworks on the corners crowned their massive bastions. All this building was surrounded by water. At the end of the XVII century it was built around the castle ramparts and ravelins (architects P. von Essen and E. Dahlberg).

During the Livonian War, the fortress was not affected. During the Great Northern War in 1710 Ahrensburg General Bour mastered, and now the town became part of the Russian Empire. However, the fortress was badly damaged (probably in 1711) during the war, but was rebuilt.

For a long time the existence of the castle there were legends .  One of them is called the legend of the bricked Knight .  According to legend, a Russian engineer who created the floor plan of the convention in 1785 .  in the eastern corner of the courtyard of the castle he found walled cellar .  In the middle of the room stood a table where in a chair upholstered in leather sitting male skeleton .  When you touch the skeleton, according to legend, he hits the floor, however, the art teacher of the local school had to make a sketch of the findings found .  It is believed that the remains belong to the knight, who was bricked up alive by order of the bishop during the Reformation (1 half of the XVI century) .  As the Catholic Bishop of Saare-Lääne seemingly resigned Protestant vassals, he turned for help to the Pope .  The Pope sent in place of the legislator Inquisitor - Spaniard by birth, whose resilience and faith vassals decided to try using a blond girl .  And the knight could not resist - fell in love with a girl .  The mystery was soon revealed - the girl's hair had been shaved, and she was sent to a correction to Kaarmasky monk monastery .  In love with the Spaniard decided to try to save the girl, but the letter, which was hidden in a crust of bread is not got to the monastery, as planned, and on the table of the bishop .  Since inquisitor finally strayed from the right path, it was decided to wall up alive in the basement of Kuressaare Castle .  Until now remember the name of the basement cellar immured knight .

There is another legend, called "lion's pit." The tower Long Herman can pass on the bridge over the insulating shaft depth of 10 meters. From the bridge you can see the toilet or dansker. Previously it used and how the mine pit for waste disposal. According to legend, the bishop of Saare-Lääne visited their possession in Saaremaa in spring and autumn. His responsibilities included litigation. After the verdict in the wall of the courtroom door opened mine and there were kept hungry lions. Round dumped sentenced to death. Lions brought the sentence immediately enforceable, instantly ripping apart the convict. To this day, mine, environmental tower Long Herman, called the Lion's pit. It is believed that the mine met his end, Bishop Henrik III, who was killed during an argument with members of the chapter in the castle in 1381.

Nowadays, the building of the castle is a museum and art gallery, where you can learn about the history of the island of Saaremaa and Kuressaare, and learn about the nature of these places. The fortress area is commonly used as open-air stage at various events. Neighborhoods water moat turned into a green park area. Since 2006, in a protective room, when it was used for defense, has 3 workshops - a smithy, a ceramic workshop and the glass. In these shops you can watch as the artists at work and try their hand themselves in these crafts such as blown glass.