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This extremely secret bunker was one of the most important facilities in Soviet Latvia in the event of a nuclear attack. Under the code name of “Rest Home,” the bunker is nine metres under the ground at the Līgatne Rehabilitation Centre, and it would have been the place where Soviet Latvian government officials would have gone in the event of an attack. The status of a secret object was lifted only in 2003. The underground installation has been preserved fully.
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The Karaosta canal and its naval and submarine base date back to the tsarist era in advance of World War I. The former submarine base is now closed to visitors and is used for business purposes. The canal can be viewed from Pulvera Street and the restored Kalpaks bridge.
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The Soviet Border Guard facility at Mērsrags was the start of the border regime zone. Absolutely nothing of the facility is left for perusal today.
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In Soviet times, the border guards of Ventspils established a major complex of buildings, open areas and various objects. Most of these are no longer in use, and the area is not under guard.
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The hydroplane airfield is on the eastern shore of Lake Durbe, not far from Līguti. It was built between 1939 and 1941. During the Soviet era, the 43rd aviation escadrille was located here, and it had 13 MBR-2 hydroplanes. All that’s left today are the cement sheets on the shore of the lake. You can look at the site itself.
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A coast guard facility was located near the village of Užava during Soviet times. There is a lack of information about the use of the facility at this time.
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The Swedish army built a modern fortress during the 1640s with five bastions and two gates. There were 120 cannons and mortar throwers, barracks for soldiers, flats for officers, a garrison church and warehouses for food at munitions. After the Great Northern War in 1710, the fortress was taken over by the Russian army. After the Soviet occupation in 1940, the Soviet navy took over the fortress. Alongside it is a former Soviet army facility with abandoned buildings and a monument to sailors who served in submarines. The fortress is open for tours on Saturdays and Sundays. |
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Dole Island is the largest river island in Latvia, and it is the site of the Dole baronial estate. The mansion of the estate was built in 1898 by the aristocratic family which owned the estate. Today the mansion is home to the Dole Museum with a rich exhibition which tells about the lives of people on the shores of the Daugava River. The adjoining park features ethnographic buildings, as well as lamprey and salmon spawning grounds. There are five unique cannons that were found in Salaspils when a new stadium was being built there. In 1910, a tsarist military camp was here, and a monument to Tsar Peter the Great was unveiled. One of the cannons is in the exhibition of the museum itself.
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A shooting range which isn’t really there anymore, but it was once
used for training purposes by the Soviet military. Right now you will see
an overgrown area of land which stretches from the seashore to the
Kolka-Ventspils road. That’s where the shooting range was located.
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Forts were built and rebuilt at this location for many centuries by Germans, Swedes and Russians. In 1912, several forts were erected at Mangaļsala and Bolderāja. There were two forts with 254-mm cannons, six with 152-mm cannons, and three with 138-mm cannons. Each fort had two cannons.
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This was Coastal Defence Battery No. 500 at one time, and it was dismantled in 1955. There were four 130 mm cannons, and their foundations can still be spotted in the forest northeast from the lighthouse. They are mostly covered by moss and can be very hard to find. Those who are not familiar with the region will probably have the most trouble of all.
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The Soviet Border Guard arrived at Lapmežciems (its border with Ragaciems) in the mid-1960s and left in 1991. Some 50 military personnel were stationed here. The military personnel and local residents organised various events and celebrations. The only thing that worried locals was a radar which was said to cause various problems. The zenith missiles were dismantled and taken away in 1991. An apartment building is still on what was then the military base. |
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The zenith missile base at Rucava is in the forests of the Baltic coastline. The facility is owned by the regional local government and is not used at this time.
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There’s hardly anything left of the zenith missile base which once stood here for the purpose of protecting the western boundaries of the USSR – even specialists would have a hard time finding the location.
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In addition to the Northern Forts, coastal batteries and Karosta district of Liepāja that are all mentioned in this database, there are other impressive elements of the former fortifications system – Lunete (the southern part of Lake Tosmare), the Central Fort (between Grīzupes Street and 14 November Boulevard), the Eastern Fort (to the South of Brīvības Street and the North of Lake Liepāja), the Southern Fort (at the Pērkone canal), and the Old Forts at the Olimpija stadium. All of these locations are freely accessible, but be careful if you go inside the former forts – they were blown up at one time and may remain dangerous.
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The former military zone in this location is not in use at this time, and there is no specific information about what it was used for in the past. The territory is privately owned and is not open to visitors.
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The former Soviet-era fuel base was part of the military facilities at that time. Fuel tanks from this site have been removed and no longer exist. |
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The local museum offers an interesting and extensive exhibit related to World War II at the Kurzeme fortress and the fate of Latvian soldiers who took part in the war. There are also exhibits related to the history of World War I and World War II, complete with a collection of civilian and military objects. Among them – a YI-2 airplane, an armoured personnel carrier, a Red Army tank, and all of the trenches and bunkers of the relevant era.
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The museum is in Gunpowder Tower, which was an important component in the Medieval fortifications system of Rīga. The basic subject of the museum is Latvia’s military and political history, and exhibits are related to these subjects.
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Another example of a costal defence battery along the Kurzeme shoreline is found here.
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