Known as Alšvanga in the past, this place was mentioned for the first time in 1231 in an agreement that was signed between the deputy legate of the pope in Rome and the Courlandian tribes of the region.  The Livonian Order ruled the territory until 1561, and from 1573 until 1738 the order’s castle belonged to the von Schwerin dynasty from Pomerania.  It during the rule of this aristocratic family that a stone church was built in honour of Archangel Michael, and local residents began to convert to Catholicism.  Alsunga became the Catholic centre for all of Kurzeme, and local residents became known as the Suiti (from the Schwerin suite).

For nearly 400 years, Alsunga has been the historical centre of the Suiti territory.  This is Latvia’s most conservative region and is widely known with unusual songs, colourful folk costumes and various folk traditions and beliefs.  The Suiti have their own dialect, foods and many other things that have been long since abandoned or forgotten elsewhere in Latvia.  The religious has commingled with the folk here in one unique whole.  The Alsunga District covers 191 km2 and has some 1,500 residents.

was first mentioned in written form in 1582.  A census in 1736 found two farms, Lekši and Žonaki.  A census in 1935 found that there were 106 people in Vaide, including 40 Livonians, 60 Latvians and a few Estonians and Germans.  In 1939, there were 21 homesteads in the village.  Nika Polmanis (1823-1903) was born at the Lāži homestead.  He was the first educated Livonian and lived in the region for all his life.  Livonian poet Alfons Bertholds (1910-1993) wrote a poem about a noble oak tree that grows alongside the homestead.  The vast Berthold family is linked to Žonaki -- Livonian storyteller Marija Šaltjāre, yacht captain Andrejs Bertholds (USA), his son, library scholar Artūrs Benedikts Bertholds (USA), Livonian poet Alfons Bertholds, Livonian language specialists Paulīne Kļaviņa and Viktors Bertholds, Swiss doctor Marsels Bertholds, globally renowned pianist Arturs Ozoliņš (Canada), and Livonian language storyteller and poet Grizelda Kristiņa (1910-2013), who was the last native speaker of Livonian.  The Ozolnieki homestead is also linked to the Bertholds family.  Paulīne Kļaviņa (1918-2001), a specialist in the fields of Livonian traditions and language, and her mother, Livonian storyteller Katrīna Zēberga, both lived there.  Paulīne collected ethnographic objects that can be seen at the Latvian Ethnographic Open Air Museum in the granary of the Livonian Dēliņi farm.  The Purvziedi homestead in Vaide is owned by forest ranger Edgars Hausmanis, who has a collection of forest animal horns and antlers.

Located in the northern part of Valmiera, the Valmiermuiža Estate mansion (Neo-Baroque Style) was built between 1764 and 1771 by Prince August Friedrich of Schleswig, Holstein and Soderburg.  Over the course of time it has been owned by other people.  According to modern evidence, the mansion was a one-story building with a Baroque tower and a two-story addition in the early 20th century, which made it appropriate as a summer home and hunting lodge.  The building burned down in 1918.  Two years later, Valmiermuiža became a prison camp for captured soldiers.  Later the addition to the mansion was restored and used as an elementary school.  In 1936, the building became a prison, and it was once again a prison camp for captured soldiers during World War II.  Later the building burned down again, and the ruins were removed.  Still surviving is the Valmiermuiža tower, with ceiling paintings that are a cultural monument, as is the surrounding park.  The Valmiermuiža brewery is alongside the historical monument, thus providing second wind for the whole region.

The historical centre of Talsi, which is known as the town of nine hillocks. The historical construction around Baznīckalns hill, Lake Talsi and Lake Vilkmuiža mostly dates back to the 19^th century. Lielā Street is particularly beautiful with its low-rise buildings (two or three floors and ridged roofs). There are beautiful views from the area around Lake Talsi and Ķēniņkalns hill.

Koguva village on Muhu island is an outstanding example of peasant architecture in Estonia. Farmsteads with dry stone walls are protected as an architectural monument. The museum complex comprises a wealthy seaside farm Tooma (Juhan Smuul, an Estonian author, was born here) with all its outbuildings and tools, a former village school and a textile exhibition.

Cēsis is in the centre of the Gauja National Park, but it is not part of the park as such. There are many interesting places in Cēsis to visit and examine. The oldest part of the town is of key interest. The origins of Cēsis can be found at Riekstu hill, which is 18 metres high. Between the 11th and 13th century, there was a wooden castle here built by the Vendians. The hill is in the central part of the castle park, and it offers a good view of the park, pond and the ruins of the Cēsis castle, which can be accessed via a long cascade of stairs. The Cēsis castle (see below) was built in the early 13th century as a residence for masters of the Livonian Order, and it was one of the strongest fortresses in the Baltic territories. Alongside it is the New Cēsis castle, which was built in 1777 where the gate fortifications once stood. The Cēsis Museum of History and Art is in the building, alongside which is a visitors centre and the Cēsis Tourism Information Centre. From the tower of the castle, there is a fine view of the castle ruins, St John's Lutheran church and the northern part of the town. Opposite the New Cēsis castle are stables and a wheelhouse (both from the first half of the 19th century). The Cēsis Exhibition Hall is there today. You can look at the exteriors of the granary, the hut for coachmen, and the old brewery. On the other side of the street is the romantic Maija park, which was installed in the 1830s. The park is popular among parents with children, because there is a playground there. From this area, you can walk down some of the old streets of the town – Lielās Katrīnas, Mazās Katrīnas, Mazā Kalēju, Kalēju and Lielā Līvu streets, plus Līvu Square. The wooden buildings along the streets date back to the late 18th and early 19th century. Torņa Street, which weaves its way along the defensive walls of the Medieval castle, offers a look outside the church of a sculpture by Matiass Jansons, "As the Centuries Pass". Legend says that if you rub the lantern carred by the Old Man of Time, you can see the future. One of the most impressive buildings in Cēsis is St John's Lutheran Church, which was built in the late 13th century for the Livonian Order. It is a basilica built in the Roman style and with Gothic elements. The tower, which is 65 m high, was built in 1853. The building was reconstructed several times during the 20th century. Inside the building are grave epitaphs for masters of the Livonian Order and for bishops. The pulpit was installed in 1748, the oak altar followed in 1858, and the altar painting "The Crucified One" dates back to 1862. The stained glass windows around the altar are of great artistic value. The organ was built in 1907 by the E.F. Walker Company, and the instrument is one of the best concert organs in Latvia. A sun clock featuring the year 1744 is at the south-western corner of the church. It is worth climbing the church's tower. At the foot of the building is Rose Square, which began as a market square in the mid-19th century, remained in place until 1927, and was restored in 2008. This is the central square in the town today. During the Medieval Era, there were stockades here, along with the city's well. Rīgas Street has been the main street of the old town from the very beginning, and it is here that you will find the most architecturally outstanding buildings in town from the 18th and 19th centuries. They include the former Cēsis City Hall, the Fābers building, and the Princess building. At one end of the street is Līvu Square, where, during the 13th century, there was a church, a cemetery and a gate in the town walls. Today the square features a lighted fountain which is on the site of a 13th century well known as Lejas Šķimbēgs. At the other end of the street is a reconstruction of the foundations and surface elements of the Rauna gate that was a part of the town walls in the 14th and 15th centuries. The site offers a good idea about Medieval fortifications and the size and mightiness of gates therein.

Name of Ainazi is an integral part of the Latvian maritime history. The first Naval School, which was able to learn the Latvian peasant children, was established here in 1864. Naturally - Ainazi became an important Latvian coastal shipbuilding centre and port. Economic life of the town was also facilitated by the opening of Smiltene -Valmiera-Ainazi narrow-gauge railway line in1913. Today Ainazi is a small and quiet town on the Latvian - Estonian border with a number of interesting sightseeing objects.

The ruins of the Koknese Castle are found where the Daugava and Pērse rivers flow together. The castle, which is on a floodplain, was built for the bishopric of Rīga in 1209, and it replaced an ancient Latvian castle that was made of wood. The castle was blown up by Saxon forces in 1701. A visitors centre is near the ruins, and there you can carve a Medieval coin or rent a boat to sail down the Daugava. Make sure to stroll through the Koknese park, which is alongside the ruins.

From the historical and architectural perspective, this is an interesting monument to urban construction between the 17th and 19th centuries.  Old Liepāja is in the area of the old market and Kuršu Square, where merchants sold their wares beginning in the 1560s.  Until 1792, Kuršu Square was also where punishments were implemented.  The current Pētertirgus pavilion was installed alongside the square in 1910.  A map shows that the network of streets has partly preserved the chaos of street planning that was typical in Medieval towns.

In the 15th century, Preili manor became the property of Count Borhs family. Borhs were living here until the 60ties of 19th century. The city itself formed in the first half of the 19th century by fusion of Preili Manor, the village and free village - settlement of traders and craftsman. In the 19th century a luxurious palace was built in Preili and Landscape Park was created. Today Preili is an important economic centre of Latgale (cheese and sewing plants), where t folklore, crafts and Catholicism traditions are fostered. Preili tour in the guidance of TIC employee Irena Kjarkuza is highly recommended.