The great barn of Nīca is a locally significant and authentic architectural monument, located in the center of the Nīca. The barn will be gradually renovated by the implementation of several projects, but major reconstruction is still ahead.
The barn was built in 1853 and was included in the complex of the Great Manor of Nīca. The complex included several buildings: a residential building, a building for milk treatment, a building for a post office and a clerk, an ice cellar, a stable with a wagon shed, a barn for chickens, pigs and livestock, a threashing barn, a guard’s house, a country barn, a windmill, a cellar for potatoes, a barn for horses, as well as two sheds with a basement. The former brewery has been turned into a smithy; the former distillery has become a landless peasant’s house. There was also a beautiful pond on the territory of the manor. As it was originally built, but slightly changed, only the barn has survived to this day.
The original owners of the manor are unknown, they often changed, but it is known that for a while it belonged to the Duke of Courland Jacob. Then it was one of the largest manors of the duke. Later, in 1795, when Courland was added to Russia, the Nīca manor and parish became the property of Russia; the situation did not change until the establishment of the State of Latvia. Thus, the barn was owned by the Duchy of Courland, later by the crown manor of the Courland governorate and then it was used for municipality household. There is truly little informatin about the manor itself. Due to the fire, all documentation about the building burned down.
The barn is built of boulders and red bricks typical for the manors in the 18th and 19th centuries. With the original red tiled roof, the barn is an attractive part of the cultural landscape of Nīca. The barn is massive and laconic in shape. It was used as a warehouse. Today it is not used much but a project is underway to modernize the building and make it a museum.