| No | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
In Soviet years, Ventspils was the site of tank training. The facility has been degraded, and only the former tank repair facility and some outbuildings are still being used. The rest of the territory is not used or guarded any more.
|
|
 |
This battery is easiest to find if you walk on the beach, because one of its four positions is right there, rinsed by the waves of the sea. Other positions, including a telescope tower, are in the pine forest not far from the coast. The battery was installed in the 1940s, and you can see the Northern Forts from here.
|
|
 |
The largest collection in Europe of Soviet aviation and military equipment is on the territory of the Rīga International Airport and is open to visitors. The collection was assembled over the course of 40 years.
|
|
 |
In the South-western parts of the former Spilve airfield, you can still see concrete areas on which Soviet-era military helicopters once landed.
|
|
 |
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.
|
|
 |
Only indirect evidence of the former tank base that was here is still available (see the story).
|
|
 |
The Lūžņa radio equipment company was part of the Naval Border Guard in Soviet Times. The car park in the centre of Lūžņa offers a fine view of the former military complex. Some buildings are used as apartment buildings at this time.
|
|
|
|
Another example of a costal defence battery along the Kurzeme shoreline is found here.
|
|
 |
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. |
|
 |
The ship and coast guard missile repair workshops in the forests around Bārta in the Liepāja District are very impressive in visual terms. The facility is owned by the regional local government and is being dismantled to obtain building materials.
|
|
 |
Few Soviet military objects are associated with more legends than this one. During Soviet times, this was a reserve airfield, as well as a storage site (just 50 kilometres from the republic’s capital city) for nuclear weapons. These were hidden in two cement hangars that were covered with soil and vegetation. Public information suggests that an RX-24 nuclear bomb weighing 430 kg and a RX-26 nuclear bomb weighing 1,030 kg were stored here, as were air-to-land missiles equipped with nuclear explosives. If there had been an accident here, what would have happened to Rīga, to Latvia, to the Baltic States and to Northern Europe? The airfield is a closed territory today.
|
|
 |
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.
|
|
 |
Today there’s a single-family farm and not much else, but at one time Olmaņi was the site of two important coastal batteries collectively known as “Krastnoflotskaya.” Until 1955, the one to the South of Olmaņi, there were four 152-mm Kane type cannons, which were manufactured during World War I and were widely used to protect the coastal territory of the Baltic Soviet republics of Latvia and Estonia during the rule of the Soviet regime. Small concentric ramparts of earth are all that’s left there today. After 1955, to the North of Olmaņi, another battery was installed with four MY-2 152-mm cannons. They had a range of 25 km. The battery remained in battle readiness until 1975, when it was turned into a reserve facility. It’s not easy to find, but it’s worth the search. The platforms for the cannons and the subterranean bunkers are still there. This was indeed one of the most impressive coastal batteries along the shores of the Baltic Sea.
|
|
 |
The battery is to the South of Ventspils, not far from the Piejūras Park. Work on the battery began in 1939. Today the site is a complete mess, standing out in a negative way from the tidy city itself. People seeking building materials and ferrous metals helped to tear the place down. It’s too bad that this historical location – one that might be of interest to tourists – is in such sad shape, and right at the gates of the city, to boot.
|
|
 |
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.
|
|
 |
The projector buildings of the former border guard facility have been preserved at Labrags, but they are privately owned.
|
|
 |
Ramocku stacija atklāta 1889. gadā reizē ar dzelzceļa Pleskava-Rīga atklāšanu. 1916.gadā pēc jauna dzelzceļa izbūves līdz Gulbenei, šīs stacijas nozīme ievērojami pieauga. 1918.gadā tā kļuva par divu dažādu sliežu platumu dzelzceļa iecirkņu saskares staciju. Intensīva vilcienu kustība caur šo staciju tika izvērsta Brīvības cīņu laikā. Sadursmes pie Ieriķu stacijas notika jau 1918.gada decembrī. 1919.gadā jūnijā te sākās Cēsu kaujas. Starp Cēsīm un Ieriķiem vācieši uzbruka igauņu bruņuvilcienam. Par dažādiem nopelniem Brīvības cīņu laikā Ieriķu apkaimē, vairāki karavīri saņēma apbalvojumus, arī Lācplēša kara ordeņus.1919. gadā stacija nodēvēta par Ieriķiem. Otrā pasaules kara laikā te atradās lokomotīvju depo.1953.gadā depo vietā izveidoja stratēģiskās rezerves tvaika lokomotīvju bāzi. Pēdējā tvaika lokomotīve L-3599 Ieriķu bāzi pameta 2002.gadā un tagad ir redzama kinopilsētā Cinevilla.Ieriķu stacija vairākkārt pārbūvēta.Otrā pasaules kara laikā nodedzināta pavisam. 1956.gadā uzbūvē pašreizējo ēku. |
|
 |
In October 1948, nationalist partisans who opposed the Soviet regime built a 9x6 m bunker in the forests of Īle for themselves. Five months later, the KGB attacked the bunker. After five hours of gunfire, 15 partisans lay dead, and another nine were captured. The bunker has been restored in commemoration of this event, and it is open to visitors.
|
|
 |
The first Dnyestr-M radar station was opened here in 1969 to calculate the trajectories of ballistic missiles. The trajectories of satellites were also calculated here. The range of the radar station was 5,000 km. In 1972, construction began on a second, more modern radar, the Dnyepr-M. In 1977, it was ready for use, and the first radar was modernised at the same time. The two radars were located in buildings that were 250 m long and 17 m high. During a 24/hour period, they could identify the height, speed and flight trajectory of up to 750 space objects. In 1985, work began on a third, even more modern radar – the Daryal-YM. This was a radar that could “peek” across the horizon. The antenna building was 117 m high (19 stories), 80 m long and 80 m wide. It had a planned range of 6,000 km, but it was not completed. After the withdrawal of the Russian army in 1995, the building was blown up. That cost LVL 6,172,311 and used up 360 kg of explosives. The territory of the radar stations took up 1,072 hectares, with barracks, a hotel, 551 apartments, a medical facility, a water tower, a war hospital, a bomb shelter, etc. The aim of the facility was to monitor space above Western Europe and North America, as well as to “intercept” any ballistic missiles that were fired at the USSR. The territory is closed to visitors, but it is an important part of Latvia’s military heritage. The abandoned territory can be viewed from the outside. The nearby bus stop is called “Kombināts.” This was the only facility of its kind in the Baltic States. !!! Since March 2018 the Skrunda army base is closed for visitors. |
|
 |
Ezeres kultūrvēstures un novadpētniecības materiālu krātuve “Muitas nams” ir izveidota vēsturiski nozīmīgā ēkā, kur, II pasaules kara noslēgumam tuvojoties, 1945. gada 8. maijā tika parakstīts Kurzemes katlā ielenkto vācu karaspēka daļu kapitulācijas akts. Ar to tiek uzskatīts, ka Ezerē faktiski beidzies II pasaules karš. Krātuves materiālu ekspozīcijas ir no Ezeres pagasta senvēstures līdz šodienai, tai skaitā ezernieku vaļasprieki. |
|
