Almarestäkets castle was built in the 1100s to protect the Sigtuna and Uppsala cities. It was also called as St. Erik's castle after Eric IX. Throughout the Middle Ages there was a struggle between the Crown and Church who can control the castle.
The castle was first mentioned in the late 1300s. In 1440 got Archbishop Nicolaus Ragvaldi permission to build a new castle, which was completed about ten years later. In the 1510s troubles Almarestäkets was in possession of Bishop Gustav Trolle between 1516-17. The castle was sieged by his main enemy Sten Sture the Younger in 1517. Archbishop Gustav Trolle locked himself in there to avoid trial, and the Swedish government demanded and carried out the demolition of the fortress. The procedure was formally unauthorized because at the time State property was to be separate from Church property. As a revenge for this and other perceived injustices, Trolle, assisted by the Danish King Christian II, took revenge in the Stockholm Bloodbath of 1520.
Today there are visible traces of castle foundations with potholes filled with stone and occasional bricks.
References:House of the Blackheads (Melngalvju nams) is a building situated in the old town of Riga. The original building was erected during the first third of the 14th century for the Brotherhood of Blackheads, a guild for unmarried German merchants in Riga. Major works were done in the years 1580 and 1886, adding most of the ornaments.
The structure was bombed to a ruin by the Germans June 28, 1941 and the remains demolished by the Soviets in 1948. The current reconstruction was erected from 1995 to 1999. Today the House of Blackheads serves as a museum and sometimes concert hall.