​WENDEN (Lettish Tseziz), a town of western Russia, in the government of Livonia, 60 m by rail N E of Riga. Pop. (1897) 6327. Here are the well preserved ruins of a former castle of the Brethren of the Sword, afterwards (from 1237) of the grandmaster of the Teutonic Knights. In 1577 the garrison blew it up to prevent it from falling into the hands of Ivan the Terrible of Russia. It was rebuilt, but has been in ruins since a fire in 1748.