In 1827, Count Carl Magnus De la Gardie bought a castle with a park what was to be called the Count Yard. De la Gardie also supported the construction of the first mud spa in Haapsalu. Many important figures of the Russian Empire, including the Imperial Family, went on summer holidays to his castle. Since the end of the reign of Nicholas I until the destruction of the Empire, all of the Russian tsars, until Nikolai II, spent their summers in Haapsalu and took mud baths there. De la Gardie’s castle was renovated and since 2012, it has been used as a nursing home for the Lääne County hospital.