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The Varakļāni Estate has a mansion which is known as one of the most outstanding monuments to Classicism in Latgale. It was built between 1783 and 1789 and designed by the Italian architect Vincento Macotti, and it was owned by Earl Michael Johan Borch. Late in the 18th century, the same architect designed the estate’s lovely and romantic landscape park, which was one of the first parks of its kind in Latvia. The Varakļāni Administrative District Museum is housed in the mansion today. |
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The Slītere National Park (established in 2000) is known, with good reason, as an open-air museum which shows the historical development of the Baltic Sea. Nowadays evidence of geological events is seen in the Blue Hills of Slītere, which stand 20 to 30 metres high above what was the shore of the Baltic lake of ice 10,000 years ago. The Stiebri hills were former 8,000 or 9,000 years ago, while the Littorina Sea formed Europe’s largest set of dune ramparts and damp hollows between those ramparts. This occurred between 4,000 and 7,000 years ago. The gentle climate of Northern Kurzeme is the reason why so many rare plants are found in the park – some 860 in all including Common Yew (Taxus baccata) and Baltic Ivy (Hedera helix var. baltica). Of certain value in the preservation of these treasures was the Soviet military machine, which has left behind army bases and other military objects in the area. The presence of the military meant that the area of what is now the Slītere National Park remained largely undisturbed for 50 years. The park includes one of the most popular tourist destinations in Latvia – the Cape of Kolka, which is visited by more than 50,000 travellers each year. During the spring migration of birds, more than 60,000 birds cross the cape each hour. Along the shore of the Baltic Sea is the so-called Livonian coast, which stretches from Kolka to Sīkrags and Ovīši. Fishing villages and other cultural objects established by the world’s smallest ethnic minority, the Livonians, can be found here. Tourists will enjoy interesting four nature trails, bicycling routes, viewing tower, etc. The visitors centre is located at the Slītere lighthouse. Administration of National park is organising environmental education events on regular basis open to everyone. |
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This company uses natural juices and other raw materials to produce blackberry, black currant, sea buckthorn and spinach glazes that are used to decorate handmade gingerbread. You can listen to stories, take part in thematic activities, bake your own gingerbread, and buy dough and finished cookies. |
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This is an uncommon trail. The visitor will learn all about quite “ordinary” trees such as the oak, the linden, the hazelnut, the fir and the pine. The information is quite interesting, however, making use of the heritage of Latvian folklore. The site is located near the Zvārte rock. Visitors will spend around one hour on the trail.
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The Rauna cheese factory is owned by Ceriņš family, and for the past 10 years it has offered high-quality and nutritious products to its consumers – cheese, butter and macaroni. The most popular product is “Green cheese,” in which one of the main ingredients, fenugreek, grows in the factory’s garden. Fenugreek is a perennial with five leaves and blue flowers. While the new shoots are soft, they are dried in a wood-fired drying house. Then the fenugreek is ground up, sieved and added to a mass of protein that is put in thin layers in special wooden boxes and allowed to dry. After the fenugreek is added, the cheese gets its typical taste, colour and smell. Groups of 10 or more can apply in advance for tours of the factory and learn about how the cheese is made. |
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An impressive two-trunk tree at the Nigliņi homestead, this is one of the most impressive trees on the Liv Shore. The Liv language teacher Zoja Sīle was born here. The Medieval Old Cemetery Hill – once used as burial grounds – is nearby. |
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The nature reserve “Plieņciema kāpa” is founded in 1987 and covers 60.6 hectares of land. Since 2005 it is a Natura2000 site. The nature reserve protects a 150-200m wide and 3.5km long part of a distinct, continuous dune rampart. The dunes shelter Plieņciems village protecting from sea winds. The key natural values here are rare and protected biotopes of national and European significance: “Wooded dunes of the coast 2180” in the area of 61.8 ha, “Fixed dunes with herbaceous vegetation, 2130 (grey dunes)” in the area of 8.27 ha, “Shifting dunes along the shoreline with Ammophila arenaria (white dunes) 2120 in the area of 3.20 ha”, “Black alder swamp forests 9080”, ) in the area of 2,68 ha, as well as rare and protected species of Latvian and European significance including eastern pasqueflower (pulsatilla patens), Rolling Hen-and-chicks(Jovibarba sobolifera), Nothorhina muricata, Wryneck (Jynx torquilla), Woodlark (Lullula arborea). In the nature reserve, there is a “Vabu square” – a deflation in the dune where for centuries local fishermen have been drying nets. In the 18th and 19th centuries ships were built here. Nine ships have been built here in 1882 - 1925. The four-masted gaff-rigged schooner with hoisting engine “Eurasia” was completed in 1925, the largest ship built by the Kurzeme fishermen. It was one of the works of Martin Morgenstern (1866-1945), a famous shipbuilding master. Thanks to dunes, Plieņciems village was a popular holiday resort and has been mentioned in written sources already in 1738. Clergymen and landlords with their families used to stay here. In 1808, a merchant from Riga bought the local pub and replaced it with a massive two-storey building with a large ball-room and dining hall. On July 15, 1810, a sea bathing facility was opened for health treatment. For arrival of the empress Elisabeth Alexeievna, the wife of emperor Alexander I of Russia, who was a grandson of Catherine the Great, the road from Tukums town was repaired, the two highest hills were levelled, a road passage was dug across the Plieņciems dune, and a lime-tree alley was planted to facilitate access to the beach and bathing spot. Later, in 1920ies, the resort circles consisted mainly of the Kurzeme region landlords. There was a dance-floor in the park of Plieņciems village, and a special orchestra played music for resort guests three times a day. |
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Horse's Footstone has a curvy that recalls a horse's footprint.
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Ložmetējkalns Hill is one of the highest locations at the Long Dune. There is a monument to heroic Latvian riflemen who suffered great losses here during the Christmas battles of late 1916. There is a great view of forests all the way to Jūrmala, as well as of the Maztīrelis swamp, where the embankment of the former narrow-gauge railroad is very evident. This is part of a memorial park to commemorate the Christmas battles. You can visit the Mangaļi museum, the restored “German Rampart,” monuments and other objects.
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One of the highest dunes in Latvia, located between Bernāti and Jūrmalciems villages. It is 37m high and offers a magnificent view of the sea and natural pine forests. The highest dunes in Latvia stand to the South of Jūrmalciems village: the Pūsēnu hill, the Ķupu hill, the Mietragkalns or Tiesas hill, the Pāļu hill, the Garais hill, the Ātrais hill, the Lāvas hill. The Pūsēnu dune is the highest of these dunes which are all called hills by the local people. The Pūsēnu hill developed between 1785 to 1835 when shifting sand became extremely dangerous. Several homesteads were buried in sand, among them „Pūsēni”, where a forester’s family lived. The family is said to have moved to Bārta. The dune was named after the buried homestead. Jēkabs Janševskis, a Latvian writer, wrote in his book „Nīca”: “In olden times, large pine trees were growing in the dunes on the coast of Nīca and they stood steady and firm. But i Swedish times (around 1650), the Swedes built a large kiln for charcoal and tar. Pine wood and stumps provided an excellent material for this. Once a big fire rose, and the charcoal kiln burned down as well as the whole pine forest. The remaining stumps and bare trunks in the vast burnout could not hold the storm-driven sand; it flew further and further burying not only the burned-out forest, but also the nearest fields. In wintertime, when the vast, low marshy grasslands were covered with ice, jets of sand drifted further over its surface, and soon most of the grasslands and large meadows turned into sandy heath-land and dunes.” To reconstruct Liepāja, severely damaged during WWII, a silicate brick factory was built in the town. The main raw material was white sand and it was taken from the Bernātu forest. In the 1960-ies they started to dig off the Green Dune and the White Dune, later also the Pūsēnu hill. The excavators used to work day and night, in three shifts. The work stopped at around 1980, as there was no more sand suitable for production of brick. A trail is set up to facilitate walking in the Pūsēnu Dune in the Bernātu Nature Park. |
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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. |
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На маршруте сможете узнать особую культурную среду Латгалии, людей, которые ее создают, порадоваться красивым ландшафтам, пройтись по природным тропам и искупаться в каком-нибудь из прославленнных озер Латгалии. В Ливаны узнаете о работе стеклодува, в Даугавпилсе побываете в крепосте 19-го века, где теперь расположен центр всемирно известного художника Марка Ротко. Дорога будет виться по живописным излучинам Даугавы. Информация о маршруте от Latvijas Lauku forums |
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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. |
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The Cīruļi farm is in the Rings of Daugava Nature Park and in the village that is called "Lielie Muļķi" (Big Fools). The owners have more than 100 hives of bees, share experience, talk about the lives of bees and offer tastings and purchase of products. There is a chance to look and buy paintings by the owner who will talk about the "Lielie Muļķi" (Big Fools) village. |
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This saloon is in a lovely place – the ancient Abava River valley between Kandava and Sabile. It is housed in an historical building with among the largest chimneys in the Baltic States. A camp for water tourists is alongside the saloon. Latvian cuisine: Chilled beet soup, dumpling soup, sorrel soup, sauerkraut soup, chicken livers, homemade steak haché, dried pork ribs, roast pork, grilled pork, potato pancakes with cream, crepes, herbal teas. Special foods: Cabbage stuffed with smoked meat, cottage cheese and onions. |
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72 types of wild rhododendrons with 193 different species
This is the only specialised rhododendron nursery in the Baltic States. Specialists there work on different kinds of rhododendrons, seeking to produce decorative and winter-resistant types of the flower. The nursery also sells plants. In the facility’s pine forest, which covers 11.8 hectares, you can see a large collection of rhododendrons from all over the world.
There are 64 winter-resistant types of rhododendrons at “Babīte,” including “Alma Mater,” “Academia Scientiarum,” “Emeritus,” “Eduards Smiļģis,” “Dita Krenberga,” and others (these were developed by Rihards Kondratovičs). All of these are appropriate for Northern Europe.
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The Klūgu family owns a landscape garden that has been declared to be one of the most beautiful gardens in Latvia, offering a diverse landscape which the owners recommend be enjoyed in July, when the summer flowers are most colourful. If you want to satisfy the dream of the family -- living in a park, you must see Latvia's typical landscape with large deciduous trees, various coniferous trees and a colourful park of shrubs that has been established over the course of several years. |
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The tower of St John’s Lutheran Church in Cēsis, which is one of the oldest stone buildings in Vidzeme, offers a view of the historical centre of Cēsis, and a wide area all the way to Zilaiskalns Hill. There is also the western tower of the ruins of the Cēsis castle, one of the strongest fortresses of the Livonian Order in the Baltic region, and it offers a grand view of the castle’s park.
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Peony collector Andris Berkens opens up his garden to visitors each spring and popularises and praises the name of Tērvete by bringing beautiful stories about flowers throughout the world. Flowers can be purchased to enhance a visitor's garden, and the recommendation is to visit when the flowers are in full bloom. Visit is free of charge. |
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Skuķu un netāli esošais Dvietes ezeri ir vieni no teritorijas grūti pieejamajiem palieņu ezeriem – lielākie šāda tipa
ezeri Latvijā. Palu laikā pārplūst, savienojoties vienā lielā ūdenskrātuvē.
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