This may be an ancient cult object, and today it is a little hill in the dunes that is a bit larger than other local hills.  It is said that a church once sank into the dune.  This tale suggests that there was a Christian or pagan prayer place here at one time. (Source: Roja TIC)

Die Straße führt durch die ehemaligen Fischerdörfer. Eine bessere Radfahr-Alternative auf der Strecke zwischen Häädemeeste und Ainaži.

This set of buildings represents a homestead for a fisherman and a farmer.  The house was built in 1926, and the ancillary buildings all date back to the first half of the 20th century.  The homestead can be seen from the road.

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.

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.

The castle hill is an island in the reservoir of the Pļaviņas hydroelectric power plant, and it can be accessed by boat.  The ancient Selonian castle hill was settled several times between the 6th and the 12th century.  This was the political and military centre of the Selonian region.  In 1373, the Livonian Order built a stone castle on the hill, as it did on many other ancient hillocks.  The castle was sacked in 1704 during the Great Northern War.  Remnants of a square tower, a guard room and the 12 m embankment that once protected the castle are all that survive.  Approximately 300 m to the North of the Sēlpils castle hill is Oliņkalns hill, which is underwater.

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 10^th to the 13^th century were found here.

 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 1^st millennium BC and the 10^th or 12^th century. Very little remains of the old Veclaši (Tiesenhausen) Estate, which had an impressive mansion designed in the Neo-Gothic style in the late 19^th 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.

This is the one street in Ķemeri where the towns' wooden buildings have been preserved to the greatest degree.  Turning onto Durbes Street from Karogu Street, you will find the Miervaldis Ķemers Museum, which is focused on the well known Latvian cultural activist, pastor and painter (1902-1980).  The museum is at Durbes Street 21.