No Name Description
N/A

Around 6 km in length and an isolated route stretching between Ragaciems and Klapkalnciems where, as stories about olden days tell, robbers used to attack travelers. Around 1.5 km before Klapkalnciems (going from the side of Ragaciems), in the dune by the sea there is installed a commemorational stone dedicated to the Finnish jaeger battles. It was installed on December 09, 1997. The stone has "travelled" from the south-eastern part of Finland where in 1940 it served as an anti-tank defense. In the monument, there are engraved the words, "Here during World War I, from August 1916 to December fought the Finnish yeagers". In turn, in Klapkalnciems there is installed a commemorational stone in the place where there are buried five Finnish soldiers.

N/A

Eine der ältesten Ortschaften Litauens. Schon im 14. Jh befand sich hier eine Holzburg. Der 20 m hohe Merķine-Burgberg an der Mündung der Flüsse Merkys und Nemunas.

N/A

Name of Litene is associated with one of the most tragic pages of Latvian history. In twenties and thirties of the 20th century a Latvian Army summer camp was located nearby, where in the summer of 1941 Latvian officers faced the communist terror: Nearly five hundred officers of Latvian army were sent to Norilsk in Siberia, part of them was shot and secretly buried in the nearby forest. At the end of the summer of 1941 about 300 civilians, mostly Jews, were shot there by the army of Nazi Germany. Today, honouring the memory of people killed, memorial and memorial sites are created.

N/A

Stupeļu Hill is 3 km to the South of the Vecumnieki-Ilūkste road. There are no signs, so the castle hill might be difficult to find. The Great Stupeļu Rock, which is discussed further on in this guidebook, is also hard to find when there is vegetation. Stupeļu Hill is approximately 30 m high, and it was one of the highest castle hills in the historical district of Selonia. Archaeologists say that it was first abandoned at the beginning of our era and then populated again during the late Iron Age. It is interesting that iron was extracted and processed near the castle hill. Archaeologists believe that this is the site of one of the earliest “cities” in the region. To the West of the hill is the Great Stupeļu Rock, which is 6.7 m long, 5.6 m wide and up to 2.7 m high. Above ground, it is 35 m3 large, and it may have been a cult location. During archaeological digs in the late 1970s, antiquities from the 10th to the 13th century were found here.

N/A

Temple Hill is steep (with artificially created steepness) and about 30 m high, and it is opposite Marijas Island.  It is an ancient Lettigalian castle hill, 80 m long and 40 m wide, with several artificial ramparts.  One of the oldest objects found in the region is an axe from the 2nd to 3rd millennium BC.   Archaeologists believe that the island was populated at that time.  There was a Lettigalian castle on the hill during the 10th and 11th century, but it was sacked by the Holy Crusade.  The surface of the castle hill was transformed comparatively recently in 1807, when a granite rotunda was built there in honour of Russian Field Marshall Sheremetev and Swedish captain Wulff.  The view of Lake Alūksne and the town is one of the most beautiful ones in all Vidzeme.  The Sun Bridge (1937) is also worth a look.  A wooden viewing platform is nearby.

N/A

Ičas apmetnes ciems ir sena dzīvesvieta Ičas upes krastos. Apmetne atklāta 1937. gadā. Tā bijusi apdzīvota neolītā (4500 - 1500 pr.Kr.) un bronzas laikmetā (1500 - 500 pr.Kr.). Apmetnē dzīvojuši amatnieki, zvejnieki, mednieki. 

 

N/A

Tiek uzskatīta par vecāko alus darītavu Ziemeļeiropā. Tā tika uzcelta 1878. gadā, un tās pirmais īpašnieks bija grāfs Emanuels fon Zīverss (Sievers), Cēsu pils muižas saimnieks. Savukārt 1922. gadā alus darītavu pārpirka Cēsu uzņēmēji un sāka tur ražot arī vīnu, sulas un minerālūdeni. Uzņēmums "Cēsu alus" šeit alu un atspirdzinošus dzērienus ražoja no 1976. līdz 2001. gadam, bet šobrīd tas ir pārcēlies uz jaunām telpām.  Šobrīd ēkā tiek organizētas dažādas izstādes, kā arī ēku var apskatīt no ārpuses.

N/A

The Middle Ages and the beginning of the last century cemetery at the church of Mazirbe. It is surrounded by a moss-covered stone fence. There you can find a number of interesting sights-Werewolf's Tomb, Old Taizelis Tomb, Grand Pine, etc..

N/A

Atrodas 0,3 km ziemeļos no Vecpiebalgas pilsdrupām. Ap 10 m augsto, bet visnotaļ izteiksmīgo Grišku kalnu sauc arī par Piebalgas, Balgas un Veļķu pilskalnu. 13. gs. šeit bijusi svarīga apmetnes vieta ar mākslīgi nostāvinātām nogāzēm un dziļu aizsarggrāvi. Vēstures notikumi ir atstājuši ap metru biezu kultūrslāni. Bezlapu laikā no kalna paveras skats uz Vecpiebalgas baznīcu un pilsdrupu vietu. Pilskalna piekājē ir aka ar Griškavotu.

N/A

In 1804 Käsmu founded the first Estonian naval school and from 1798 – 1920 built more than 40 ships. Now there is a museum about seafaring. 

N/A

Das alte zemgalicshe wirtschaftspolitische Zentrum, das eine stark befestigte Siedlung vor der Ankunft der Kreuzritter war. Die Ruinen der Burg des Livländischen Ordens.

N/A
Swedish scanst (Kuce Hill, Jumprava Hill). Medieval fortification. The monument of national meaning is located in the village Stari 450 m from Atspuki mill, 70 mto the Southeast from the ruins of Jumpravmuiža. The territory is 0,7 – 1 m deep outside and 1 – 1,5 m high inside. The new road to the ruins of Jumpravmuiža leads through the West side of the fortification.
N/A

 The Lašu castle hill is 0.2 km from the Vecumnieki-Ilūkste road at Laši. It is an ancient Selonian castle hill, and it was populated between the 1st millennium BC and the 10th or 12th century. Very little remains of the old Veclaši (Tiesenhausen) Estate, which had an impressive mansion designed in the Neo-Gothic style in the late 19th century. What remains are an ancillary building, the foundations of the mansion, fragments of the gates, and a park. Until 1920, the estate belonged to the Pshezdzetski dynasty, and before that it was owned by the Tiesenhausen and Fittinghoff dynasties. Before visiting the location, look for photographs of the old mansion on the Internet. Sadly, the important cultural monument has not experienced any major improvements over the past 20 years.

 

N/A

The Strūves Park is toward the northwest of Jēkabpils, on the left bank of the Daugava, and opposite the Ādamsona (Krustpils) island. The park was established in the 19th century as a place where the city’s residents could relax and hold celebrations. It can be said with absolute certainty that this is a place of global importance, because the park contains a memorial stone to Professor Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struwe (1793-1864) from the University of Tartu. He was an astronomer and geodesist. The stone is at a place where Struwe completed his land survey of the Vidzeme Province of the Russian Empire. The meridian location which Struwe identified (and other points related to those locations are found in many other European countries) is on the UNESCO list of world heritage.

N/A

This ancient Courlandian castle hill has remnants of an ancient city.  Historical sources indicate that in 1263, the Courlandians handed the castle over to the Livonian Order without a battle and that the castle was then burned down.  The name of the place, Skābaržkalns, has to do with the name of the city, because hornbeam trees in the area were once known as grobi.

N/A

Setomaa in South-East Estonia is a unique area for its people (the Seto) and culture. The historic location in the borderland between East and West, straddling two languages and cultures has shaped the local language, life style, clothes and food. A very specific type of singing – leelo – is incorporated in the UNESCO list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Visitors are advised to follow the Seto Külävüü route from Võõpsu to Luhamaa through many villages to better understand the area.
Traditional Seto food is found at Seto Teahouse (tsäimaja) (+372 505 4673, www.setomuuseum.ee) in Värska and at Taarka Tarõ in the Seto Community Centre in Obinitsa (+372 5620 3374, http://taarkatare.com). Catering for groups should be booked in advance, cultural shows can also be booked.

N/A

Near the place where the Kilmiņupe River flows into the sea is the legendary Trommel castle hill, which was a Medieval fortification.  It is some 100 m from the Kraujas homestead.  An archaeological dig in 1977 found fragments of bricks and pot-bellied stoves, which suggests that the fortifications date back to the Middle Ages.  The location also is linked to stories about a pirate, Trommel, who buried his loot here.  The holes in the area have been left behind by treasure hunters.  Trommel supposedly robbed ships in the Bay of Rīga from the shores of Kurzeme to Roņu Island.  Many ships docked here in ancient times, waiting for better winds so that they could pass by Cape Kolka.  The pirate made use of this fact, also pillaging property from sunken ships.  It is said that Trommel lived in a stone castle. (Source: Roja TIC)

N/A

This was an island after the Rīga hydroelectric power plant created a reservoir, and before that it was a peninsula on the Left Bank of the Daugava.  During World War I, there were massive battles between Latvian Riflemen and a much larger German army on Death Island.  On December 25, 1916, the Germans used poisonous gas against the Latvian troops.  In honour of this, the architect Eižens Laube designed a monument to fallen Latvian riflemen on the northern shore of Death Island.  It was unveiled in 1924.  Death Island can be reached by boat, and the trenches and graves there are of interest.  There is a pier for boats on the north-western shore of the island, and nearby is a location for leisure.  Some of the trenches and dugouts have recently been restored.  The battles were described by Aleksandrs Grīns in his masterpiece, “Snowstorm of Souls.”

N/A

The building was erected during the first period of Latvian independence, and it maintained its functions for a long time.  The building is located at Tukuma Street 30.  Beginning in 1940, the post office had an automated telephone central.  The Postal Service no longer uses it, and the building can only be viewed from the outside.

N/A
„Upmaļi” is the family house of writer Janis Klīdzējs who has written 8 novels, 11 storybooks, 2 essay books and reflections about Latgalian catholic-Latvian mentality. Janis Streičs (famous Latvian film director) shot a film based on the novel of Janis Klīdzējs called „The Child of a Man”.