Ikšķile (Latvian pronunciation: [ˈikʃcile], pronunciationⓘ; German: Uexküll, or Üxküll; Swedish: Yxkull; Livonian: Ikškilā) is a town in Ogre Municipality, in the Vidzeme region of Latvia.

According to one theory of the toponym's origin, the Livonian language word Ikšķile denoted "the ford or islet(s), i.e. a place (on the Daugava River) where it was possible to cross the river, belonging to the son of the (local ruler) Ike”.

This is evidenced by the mound and an ancient burial ground in the present rural area of Ikšķile.

Building and employment of castles was an important topic in the first accounts available in the Livonian Chronicle of Henry.

Henry of Livonia, an eyewitness to the events, started telling about a canon of the Augustinian monastery of Segeburg in Holstein called Meinhard.

Meinhard heard stories of travelers about the great Daugava river, an area of commerce for pagan tribes of Livs and Letts.

After a Lithuanian raiding party attacked in winter, Meinhard and the local people hid in the forests.

According to Henry of Livonia's chronicle, Meinhard pointed out that Livonians were foolish for not having fortifications, and promised people to build castles if they converted to Christianity.

He arrived at his diocese with a sizeable army of Saxon crusaders and supported by the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope.

Albert realized that the diocese of Uexküll, defended by a castle with the same name, was far away from the Daugava river to be effective in the battle.

Due to the construction of the Riga Hydroelectric Power Plant and the reservoir, the ruins of the first stone church were preserved in the 1970s; the island on which they are now located was increased and strengthened.