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The 77th Zenith Missile Brigade of the Soviet Army was charged with air defences along the Soviet Union’s external border. The facility is owned by the regional local government and is not used for anything. There is an interesting gate at the entrance to the facility, however.
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The Cape of Kolka is freely accessible to local residents and tourists today, but the border guard facility still serves its purposes and is not open to civilians.
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The current Ventspils airport began its life as a military object. Today regular passenger flights to and from Rīga have been suspended, and the airport is only used for small planes.
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The Rumbula airfield was originally a military facility, established after World War II at a place where many single family farms had been before. When the Spilve airfield shut down, civilian aircraft moved to Rumbula, while military aircraft were based at the Rīga airport. Today the world “Rumbula” is most often associated with the automobile and spare parts market that has been established on part of the former airport’s territory. A certain “heritage” at the site is pollution from the former airfield’s fuel containers, where petroleum was stored. Paragliding occurs at the airfield.
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This was a coast guard facility with a zenith missile division, and it was meant to protect the outer border of the Soviet Union. At this time the Ventspils Naval Guard Battalion has an observation point at the location.
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The former military field hospital is in the park, south from Ventspils Seaside Open-air Museum. A few of the small architectural forms of the building have been preserved.
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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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This is the rumoured location of a military aviation engine testing laboratory. The territory is now industrial and locked off, and nothing remains to suggest that such a lab was ever really there.
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The projector buildings of the former border guard facility have been preserved at Labrags, but they are privately owned.
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Until the 1680s, where the Vecdaugava neighbourhood is located, there was a castle which, because of natural changes in the riverbed of the Daugava, was then dismantled and “moved” to the Left Bank of the Daugava. Nothing remains of the castle, but people can still see the remnants of old barriers and moats. Swedish soldiers used the facility at the beginning of the Great Northern War. The place is certainly interesting in the context of Rīga’s history and military heritage, and if you’re in the northern reaches of the city, we recommend that you go and have a look.
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This military object ensured radio communications. Now the facility is owned by the Latvian Defence Ministry, and it can only be viewed from the outside.
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This unique territory covers more than 24,400 hectares, and the Soviet military used it as an aviation training centre. The history of the base dates back to 1951, when four kolkhozes were shut down, roads were closed, and several hundred farms and homes were simply moved elsewhere. A civilian presence at the base was restored only in 1993, when several new roads were installed. If you want to get a bird’s eye view of the base and its forests, you have to climb a high, manmade hillock from which commanders watched manoeuvres. We do not recommend that you wander off from the roads!
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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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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.
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This is an abandoned facility that is no longer used. The coast guard facility is in the forest, around 600 metres from the sea. There is one building right on the shore.
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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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In 1944, between November 14 and December 9, there were fierce battles between SD and SS units from the German 16th Army, under the command of Police General Friedrich Jekeln, and a separate battalion of the Kurelians, under the command of Lt Roberts Rubenis. The battles were waged in the Ugāle, Usma, Renda and Zlēki parishes. Rubenis’ men were well-armed and organised. There were more than 600 troops, and the soldiers saw themselves as a national force which stood apart from the two hostile occupant regimes. This was the longest and most extensive battle in the history of Latvian national resistance. As the military force of the Latvian Central Council, the unit enjoyed extensive public support and confirmed a high level of morality in fighting for the restoration of a democratic Latvia. (The preceding text comes from the Rubenis Fund.)
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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.
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This is the only Soviet military object of its type and scope in Latvia – a long-distance communications base which was supposedly used to maintain contacts with Soviet naval ships and submarines all around the world. The facility had a central tower and six perimeter towers, each more than 200 metres high. Some of the towers remain in place and are used for mobile communications. It is rumoured that the Soviet communications system was never once turned on. The complex at Upīškalns can be seen by driving down the Skrunda-Kuldīga road. It is some 3 km before the Kuldīga ring road, at a populated location called Raidstacija.
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The radio telescope at Irbene was at one time used for anti-espionage purposes. There were various military units and objects in Irbene, including a military housing estate that has now been abandoned. The radio telescope is now run by the Radio Astronomy Centre of the Latvian Academy of Sciences for scientific purposes. Guided tours of the object are available.
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