Toolse Castle, or rather its ruins are located in Viru County. In Russian documents it is found under the name of Tolsburg and Tolschebor. It is assumed that the castle was built in 1471. It is believed to be the last of the Livonian Order castles in Estonia. The castle Toolse is the northernmost castle in Estonia. Toolse was built on the coast of the Gulf of Finland very close to the water. The castle was founded on the orders of the Master of the Livonian Order of the Livonian Order Johann von Wolthusen-Hertz, 4 kilometres from the present town of Kunda. The castle was originally called Fredeburg, which means "Peaceful Castle". The original purpose of its construction was to protect the harbour and the coast from pirates.
Originally, the castle was called Fredeburg ("Peaceful Castle") and was intended to to protect the harbour and coast from pirates.
There is not much information about the castle, as it was not often mentioned in historical chronicles. Originally a three-storey castle was built, as a result of the rebuilds in the late 15th-16th centuries resulted in a structure with several inner courtyards, which served as a residence of the Livonian Order. The length of this building was 55 metres long.
A number of sources say that the castle was damaged during the Livonian War in 1558, when Ivan the Terrible's troops tried to seize the castle. However, according to the chronicles of Balthazar Russow, Toolse Castle was surrendered without a fight. Then the nobles leaving the castle consoled each other: "Let the Russians take lands and cities for themselves, the Danish king will take them away from them again".
By order of Ivan the Terrible, new fortifications were built in Tools in 1570. After repeated attempts to capture the castle, the Swedes succeeded in occupying Toolse in 1580-81. During the Great Northern War the castle was destroyed, and the town near the castle walls ceased to exist. Nowadays, the walls facing the land, are much better preserved than those facing the sea. In the 20th century, the ruins were reinforced and mothballed, thus preserving the walls from further from further deterioration. In modern photographs, you can see yellow diamonds on the surfaces of the walls - these are the fastening parts of the guy wires that strengthen the walls.
