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Forts were built and rebuilt at this location for many centuries by Germans, Swedes and Russians. In 1912, several forts were erected at Mangaļsala and Bolderāja. There were two forts with 254-mm cannons, six with 152-mm cannons, and three with 138-mm cannons. Each fort had two cannons.
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National partisans commanded by Rihards Pārups were very active during World War II between Vietalva and Jaunkalsnava. The team was disbanded in 1946. The dugout is at a location that is hard to find and access. It is in the nature reserve of the Veseta Wetlands Swamp. The wood pathway that leads from the East is often hidden by reeds during the summer. During the fierce winter of 2010, the roof of the dugout collapsed, but local enthusiasts plan to reconstruct it. Alongside the dugout is a white cross inscribed with the names of the partisans who lost their lives here.
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Brāļu kapos apbedīti aptuveni 2000 karavīru. Pirmos kritušos strēlniekus — Andreju Stūri, Jēkabu Voldemāru Timmu un Jāni Gavenasu — apbedīja 1915. gada 15. oktobrī. Sākot ar 1915. gadu, kapos sāka apbedīt Pirmā pasaules kara kaujās kritušos strēlniekus, vēlāk Februāra revolūcijas laikā nošautos kareivjus. Stučkas valdības laikā 1919. gada pavasarī šeit apbedīja Brīvības cīņās pret vācu vienībām un Dienvidlatvijas brigādi kritušos latviešu strēlniekus. Pirmās Latvijas brīvvalsts laikā Brāļu kapos apbedīja ap 800 Latvijas armijas kareivjus un virsniekus. 1941.—1942. gadā Brāļu kapos apbedīja 15 nacionālos partizānus, kā arī pārapbedīja komunistiskā režīma terora upurus. Līdz 1944. rudenim šeit apbedīja arī vairākus desmitus bijušās Latvijas armijas virsnieku un karavīru, kuri bija dienējuši Latviešu policijas bataljonos un Latviešu leģionā. Abās pusēs ieejas vārtiem (augstums 10 metri, platums 32 metri) divas jātnieku skulptūru grupas (augstums 3,3 metri). Liepu gatve (205 metri) savieno vārtus ar galveno terasi, kuras centrā novietots 1 metru augsts mūžīgās uguns altāris, bet abās pusēs ozolu birzis. No terases abpusējas kāpnes ved uz regulāri veidotu kapulauku. Tā malās atrodas divas "Mirstošo jātnieku" skulpturālās grupas (augstums 3,6 metri), vidus daļā atrodas augstcilnis "Kritušie brāļi". Pret katru kapa vietu novietota smilšakmens vai plienakmens plāksnīte ar kritušā uzvārdu un vārdu vai uzrakstu "Nezināms". Ansambli noslēdz 6 metrus augsta siena ar Latvijas apriņķu un pilsētu vēsturiskajiem ģerboņiem. Pie sienas atrodas četri senlatviešu karavīru tēli, kas simbolizē Latvijas novadus - Kurzemi, Zemgali, Vidzemi un Latgali, bet tās centrā uz 9 metrus augsta sienas masīva paceļas monumentāla figūra "Māte Latvija", kas noliekusi vainagu pār kritušajiem dēliem. Brāļu kapu memoriālais ansamblis ir izcirsts no Allažu šūnakmens, izmantots arī Itālijas travertīns un smilšakmens. Pirmmetu izstrādāja tēlnieks Kārlis Zāle, arhitekts Aleksandrs Birzenieks, Pēteris Feders un Andrejs Zeidaks. |
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In October 1948, nationalist partisans who opposed the Soviet regime built a 9x6 m bunker in the forests of Īle for themselves. Five months later, the KGB attacked the bunker. After five hours of gunfire, 15 partisans lay dead, and another nine were captured. The bunker has been restored in commemoration of this event, and it is open to visitors.
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Dole Island is the largest river island in Latvia, and it is the site of the Dole baronial estate. The mansion of the estate was built in 1898 by the aristocratic family which owned the estate. Today the mansion is home to the Dole Museum with a rich exhibition which tells about the lives of people on the shores of the Daugava River. The adjoining park features ethnographic buildings, as well as lamprey and salmon spawning grounds. There are five unique cannons that were found in Salaspils when a new stadium was being built there. In 1910, a tsarist military camp was here, and a monument to Tsar Peter the Great was unveiled. One of the cannons is in the exhibition of the museum itself.
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This former training route runs through the shoreline forests from the northern part of Ventspils (there was once a tank division in Ziemeļu Street there) all the way to Ovīši. Today it is a wide, sandy and overgrown track.
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The air defence radar facilities at the Liepāja airport in Cimdenieki are gone now, although the man-made terrain in the area remains interesting today.
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This café in Ciemupe in the Ogre District has an exhibit of military equipment, artillery and other objects.
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Late in September 1944, during World War II, the village of More was witness to some of the bloodiest and most merciless battles in Latvia – only those in the so-called “cauldron of Kurzeme” were worse. Members of the Latvian Legion who were fighting on the German side prevented the ability of the Red Army to break through to Rīga, and they also prevented the encirclement of the German military force. The result of the battle was enormously important to the more than 100,000 civilians who took the opportunity to become refugees and escape the Soviet repressions that were not far in the future. Commemorative events are held in the park each September, bringing together eyewitnesses to the battles and other. There’s a memorial wall with the engraved names of members of the Latvian Legion whose names are known, as well as a stone cross to commemorate unknown soldiers. Two kilometres to the East of the park is a museum, outside which is a Soviet army tank.
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The battery is to the South of Ventspils, not far from the Piejūras Park. Work on the battery began in 1939. Today the site is a complete mess, standing out in a negative way from the tidy city itself. People seeking building materials and ferrous metals helped to tear the place down. It’s too bad that this historical location – one that might be of interest to tourists – is in such sad shape, and right at the gates of the city, to boot.
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In the South-western parts of the former Spilve airfield, you can still see concrete areas on which Soviet-era military helicopters once landed.
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The former Soviet communications division at Plāņciems in the forests of Bārta is privately owned and is being dismantled at this time.
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Redāns ir 19. gadsimta beigās celtā Liepājas Jūras cietokšņa daļa, kur notikušas Latvijai nozīmīgas cīņas. Lai gan uzbūvētie nocietinājumi ap Karostu tika atzīti par stratēģisku kļūdu un vairums no tiem saspridzināti, Redāns palicis teju neskarts. Tā ir arī vienīgā nocietinājuma daļa, kur notikusi reāla karadarbība.Par liecina ložu šautie caurumi sienās. 1919. gada 14. novembrī šeit notika brīvības cīņas par neatkarīgu Latviju, aizstāvot Liepāju pret Bermonta karaspēku. 14. novembra rītā, pārejot aizsalušo Tosmares ezeru, bermontiešu kājnieki ieņēma Redānu. Taču dažu stundu laikā liepājnieki veica niknu pretuzbrukumu, un vāciešiem nācās atkāpties. Jūnijā, jūlijā un augustā katru dienu plkst. 11.00–17.00 pie Redāna gaidīs zinošs gids, kas būs gatavs pastāstīt vairāk par Liepājas cietoksni un vēsturiskajiem notikumiem Karostā. Cena – 2 EUR no personas. |
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Edgars Kārklevalks, operator of a guesthouse Pūpoli, has a restored Soviet military GAZ-66 truck in which he offers historical and informational tours of Northern Kurzeme. The route includes former military territories.
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In addition to the Northern Forts, coastal batteries and Karosta district of Liepāja that are all mentioned in this database, there are other impressive elements of the former fortifications system – Lunete (the southern part of Lake Tosmare), the Central Fort (between Grīzupes Street and 14 November Boulevard), the Eastern Fort (to the South of Brīvības Street and the North of Lake Liepāja), the Southern Fort (at the Pērkone canal), and the Old Forts at the Olimpija stadium. All of these locations are freely accessible, but be careful if you go inside the former forts – they were blown up at one time and may remain dangerous.
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A shooting range which isn’t really there anymore, but it was once
used for training purposes by the Soviet military. Right now you will see
an overgrown area of land which stretches from the seashore to the
Kolka-Ventspils road. That’s where the shooting range was located.
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There are still some buildings, missile silos and an apartment building from the old No. 158 Zenith Missile Base at Ziemupe, but the territory has been abandoned and degraded.
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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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The bridge was built in 1906. Part of it was blown up during World War I and later restored. During the Soviet occupation, one needed special permits to cross the bridge. Military ships and other vessels used the canal, because one of the largest military bases in the USSR was sited here. In the summer of 2006, one month before the bridge’s centenary, a Georgian-flagged tanker, the Anna, rammed into the northern support structure of the bridge, and that destroyed the bridge’s turning part beyond recognition. The bridge was renovated and reopened in 2009. You can look at the bridge and cross it at any time.This is a unique engineering monument, and it is the only drawbridge of its kind in the Baltic States. It takes just five minutes to turn the two parts of the bridge.
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The so-called Comet Fort was built on the Left Bank of the Daugava at its mouth, not far from the present Daugavgrīva lighthouse. It was built around the same time as the other forts of Mangaļsala (around 1808, although some sources say 1788). There were four Kane-type 152-mm cannons. The defensive batteries at Komētforts and Mangaļsala repelled a British naval attack in the Daugava estuary in 1855. It has to be added that Komētforts is a cultural monument of local importance. If we go along the shore of the sea from the Daugavgrīva nature reserve toward the Daugavgrīva lighthouse and scale the frontal dunes (without going past the sign which says “Closed Territory. Border Zone.”), then we can see the positions of the cannons, as well as underground cellars where munitions were once stored. The territory starts approximately 500 metres before the Daugavgrīva lighthouse and stretches to the lighthouse itself. During Soviet times, the territory was closed to civilians, because many secret military objects were in this area and in Bolderāja.
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