The Southern Vidzeme Milk Tour

Dieser Betrieb ist der einzige Ort in Lettland, wo die Besucher während der Führung mit der Gewinnung und Verwendung von Birken- und Ahornsäften bekanntgemacht werden. Aus Birkensaft werden hier verschiedene Produkte erzeugt: Sirup, Wein, Brause und der starke Birkensaft (Schnaps). Hier kann man die erzeugten Produkte, frischen oder gefrorenen Birkensaft, sowie einen umweltfreundlichen Satz für die Gewinnung von Birkensaft kaufen.

Eins der ältesten Museen von Vidzeme, dessen interessantesten Ausstellungsstücke Funde aus der mittleren und jüngeren Eisenzeit sind, ein Teil davon kommt aus der Gegend des Sees von  Lubāna. Die Museumsbetreiber organisieren thematische Ausstellungen, die mit der Kulturgeschichte der Gegend in Zusammenhang stehen, und auch Kunstausstellungen. Das Museum befindet sich in den historischen Gebäuden des ehemaligen Biržu Gutshofes.

This is the most modern rabbit farm in the Baltic States. The animals live in cages in a shed, but there are also cages outside where they can be viewed. Children will love contacts with 24 types of rabbits, as well as an opportunity to study the surrounding area from a viewing tower. If you apply in advance, you can purchase fresh rabbit meat, sausages, dried meats and pâté. A new thing at the farm is the Mangalicas breed of wild pigs from Hungary.

This is one of the largest goat farms in Latvia, with approximately 160 pedigree goats (Alp, Anglo, German White Noble and other breeds), as well as pigs for breeding purposes. You can take a tour and help in herding the goats. Kid goats can be seen in the spring. You can taste various kinds of cheese, ice-cream made from goat milk and watch how the goats are milked (around 5:00 PM every day). You can also taste and purchase canned meat. No preservatives are ever added to the farm’s products. 

Found on the right bank of the Daugava where the little Karikste river flows into the Daugava, all that remains of the castle today is a set of ruined walls and foundations.  The castle was built by the Livonian Order in 1224, and it was inhabited until the mid-17^th century, when it was sacked during the Polish-Swedish war.  The ruins offer a good view of the local gravel road that goes along the right bank of the river valley.

A bit less than one kilometre from the Aizkraukle castle hill, the church can be seen from the Rīga-Daugavpils highway (A6).  The church was built in 1688 on the steep banks of the Daugava River Valley, and old Daugavpils road can still be spotted.  Between 1896 and 1899 the church was rebuilt in Neo-Gothic forms.  Inside is an important altar painting by Augusts Annuss, “Lord Help Us, We are Sinking.” There are memorials to local people such as Col Jorģis Zemitāns and Archbishop Arnolds Lūsis.  A legend says that the steeple of the church is crooked because it was hit by a German military plane during World War II.

The herd consists of around 200 goats. The owner will tell you a humorous story of life with goats in Latvia and Europe, the story of making goat cheese and the secrets of its taste, will invite you to try cheese which you will be able to buy later. Goat cheese that is made in Lielgrodes is not only healthy, but very tasty.

The museum was established in 1973 and has been in the Kalna Ziedi homestead since 1989.  The permanent exhibition is in a building that was erected in 1989 on the foundations of the former home, while the warehouse (1990) was built on the foundations of a cattle shed.  The exhibition hall (2000) was built where a granary once stood.  The only part of the former farm that remains in place is the cellar, but the placement of the buildings is typical for the layout of a farm in Vidzeme.  The collection of the museum speaks to the history of the administrative district, beginning with information about the Stone Age.  The open-air exhibition features beehives with marks of belonging, as well as rare round crosses that are monuments to Medieval cemeteries.  100 metres to the Northeast from the museum is the Kalna Ziedi castle hill, while 200 metres to the south are the remains of a sacrificial oak stump that was destroyed in 1994.  The location is on the edge of the reservoir of the Pļaviņas hydroelectric power plant and offers a broad view of the plant’s dam and the town of Pļaviņas.

Located in a cultural centre at Brīvības Street 15 in Ogre, the museum was established in 1980 and has a permanent exhibition, “Ogre – a Swimming and Air Spa, Relaxation and Everyday Life, 1920-1940,” which offers a good look at the “golden age” of Ogre, when it was a popular spa.  Another exhibition, “Legendary Ogre” offers a different view.  Visit the museum to find out what it is!

The Cesvaine Castle is one of Latvia’s most beautiful castles. Built in the style of Eclecticism, it is said to have been presented by its owner, Adolf von Wulff, to his wife. The castle was built between 1893 and 1896. On the banks of the Sūla River alongside the castle is the Cesvaine Park, including the afforested Cesvaine castle hill.

The Cesvaine castle roof reconstruction is complete! Visitors may tour the castle accompanied by a Cesvaine Tourism Centre guide. Restoration of the castle interior will ccontinue throughout 2020. Periodic closure of the castle can be expected. Please phone in advance to arrange a visit T. +371 26172637. For more information visit www.cesvaine.lv

The farm is along the upper reaches of the Daugava Ancient River Valley, and it offers more than 100 types of plants, including decorative plants, herbs, medicinal plants and traditional Latvian farm plants. You can tour the largest field of so-called Northern kiwis in Latvia. Take a tour, purchase plants, taste teas, fruits and berries, and receive consultations from the owner.

Found in the northern part of Cesvaine, the church was built of fieldstones in the Neo-Gothic style in 1879 by the architect Paul Max Bertschy.  The church was restored in 1929 and again in the early 1990s.  The altar painting, “Christ on the Cross” (1923) is by Jēkabs Bīne.

The company produces butter, cream, cottage cheese, cottage cheese products, yoghurt and desserts, using high-quality milk that comes from more than 100 local farms and three co-operatives.  Technological processes are observed and improved during the manufacturing process so that the product retains its value in terms of taste and nutrition.  Tourists are welcome, and tastings are available.  This is one of five companies in Latvia that can produce “Summer Solstice” cheese as an EU guaranteed traditional product.  The company’s products also have the “Green Teaspoon” quality mark.

To the south of Koknese, the Destiny Garden is on an island that is surrounded by the waters of the Pļaviņas hydroelectric power plant (there is a bridge to the shore).  The aim of this fundamental open-air object was to commemorate people in Latvia who suffered because of totalitarian regimes.  The first work here began in 2008, and the designer of the landscape was a Japanese landscape architect, Shunmyo Masuno.  Work on the garden continues, but it is already a popular tourist destination.  The first permanent structure is a terrace that offers a view of the Koknese castle ruins and the local Lutheran church.  This means that there will be something new each time that people visit the park.  People are invited to bring rocks for this nationally important location that commemorates Latvia’s history.

Located in the Lielvārde Park and alongside the Andrejs Pumpurs Museum, the church was restored in 1932 on the foundations of a church that was built in 1747 and bombarded during World War I.  Inside the church are several artistic monuments, including the altar, the pulpit, the pews and an altar painting by Kārlis Miesnieks, “Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane” (1939).  On the eastern wall of the church is a stone cross that has partly sunk into the ground.  Specialists believe that it is an old gravestone.

This exhibition features the Pļaviņas hydroelectric power plant as a unique architectural building with unique engineering elements.  It is the largest producer of electricity in the Baltic States and one of the largest in Europe.  The exhibition speaks to the construction of the plant and major aspects of its operations.  There is a model of the plant, as well as various types of equipment that are used to ensure its operations.  Visitors will see a diver's suit, as well as various documents and photographs about the operations and reconstruction of the plant, the history of Aizkraukle, and the lives of people who worked at the plant.  Tours are available of the machine room of the plant, a look at the plant from a viewing platform, and a chance to learn more about the buildings as such.

Старейший дендрарий Латвии (основан в 1891 г.), посадки которого спланировал и сформировал владелец Скриверской господской усадьбы Максимилиан фон Сиверс (1857 – 1919 гг.). Сейчас в парке насчитывается примерно 300 видов и сортов растений. Насаждения сгруппированы по месту их естественного роста - для различных мировых геоботанических районов. Для удобства посетителей проложены дорожки, а рядом с растениями находятся дощечки с названиями. Фонтан работает со вторника по воскресенье. На другой стороне шоссе Рига – Даугавпилс (А6) находится Скриверский лесной парк с прогулочными тропами.

The visitors are offered the excursion around the wine garden and the story about different sorts of grapes and the secrets of wine-making. During the excursion the vistiors can learn about the traditions of growing grapes in Latvia, to see and taste the newest tendencies of grape selectioning,as well as receive advice on growing and tending grapes. It is also possible to try home-made wines and buy grapes saplings.

Первая большая гидроэлектростанция в Латвии, строительство которой было начато в 1936 году (архитектор Э. Лаубе). Первый гидроагрегат (мощностью 17 МВт - крупнейший в странах Балтии) начал действовать в 1939 году. В период с 1976 – 1979 годы было проведен второй этап строительства ГЭС, в результате которого на левом берегу Даугавы построили новое здание, установили три агрегата, увеличив таким образом мощность ГЭС до 260 МВт. Еще одна реконструкция ГЭС прошла на левом берегу Даугавы (ГЭС – 2) в период с 1998 - 2001 годы, где сейчас расположен музей Энергетики. Посещение объекта проходит по предварительной записи!
 

The nature park near the town of Ogre is a popular place for leisure, hiking and, in the winter, cross-country skiing. Most of the park is covered with coniferous trees that are on a long and comparatively narrow line of hillocks with steep sides – another element of nature left behind in Latvia by the Ice Age. Many different plants can be found here. The Jaunogres castle hill is one of the most distinct hillocks in the area.

Здесь общество „Балтайне” организует семинары, курсы и занятия о латышских национальных праздниках, семейных традициях, проводит мастер-классы кулинарного наследия, а также организует игру на музыкальных инструментах и показывает различные виды рукоделия – плетение, вязание спицами и крючком, прядение. Хозяйки готовят вкусные супы, каши, травяные чаи, кофе из цикория, пекут торты и пироги. Здесь можно учиться народным танцам, играм и пению. Здесь предлагают также свадебный постановки.
 

Where the little Rumbiņa river flows into the Daugava (on the left bank of the little river opposite the Lielvārde park), there is the Dievkalns castle hill that has been reduced by the waters of the Daugava.  It is also known as the Cepure hill.  According to antiquities that have been found here, representatives of Baltic tribes lived here from the first millennium BC to the 6^th or 7^th century AD.  The level of the Ķegums hydroelectric power plant can be reached by a staircase from which the best view of this object can be found.

В приусадебном хозяйстве недалеко от озера Юмурдас производят сыр из молока 40 дойных коз. Всего в хозяйстве 60 коз. Продукцию можно приобрести на месте, а также на рынках товаров и продуктов домашнего изготовления. Доставка продукции по заказу.  В хозяйстве проходят экскурсии – знакомство с козочкой Бонни, ее подружками и дегустация сыра. 

Крестьянское хозяйство «Вецсиляни» находится в Кокнеском крае Бебрской волости. Основные отрасли хозяйственной деятельности – разведение крупного рогатого скота молочной породы и выращивание пшеницы, ячменя, овса, ржи, кукурузы и трав. В 2010 году крестьянское хозяйство «Вецсиляни» начало производство твердого сыра под названием «Иевас сиерс». Посетителям предлагают дугустацию сыра, осмотр хозяйства и производства сыра.

Гончар предлагает широкий выбор деятельности – осмотр мастерской, точение глиняной посуды, рисование, изготовление барабанов и кукол. Покупка сделанных работ. Демонстрация игры на барабане.

В хозяйстве выращивают лекарственные чаи из змееголовника, эхинацеи, мяты, лаванды и др. растений и производят косметику - крема «Беате» и «Васильковую цветочную воду». Предлагают познавательную экскурсию, угощают вкусным чаем. Покупка косметики.