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This coast guard facility was housed in a building that used to be a maritime school. In the post-Soviet era, accommodations were offered at the building. The coast guard tower is one of the best-preserved objects of its kind along the Latvian shoreline.
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The Bauska Castle contains a collection of cast iron cannons which date back to the latter half of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. They were manufactured in the Duchy of Courland. The cannons that are in the garden of the castle were not found there – they were found in different locations in Zemgale. Four of the largest cannons came from Jaunsvirlauka, where they were found on the banks of the Lielupe River opposite Emburga. They are the best preserved weapons of their type in Latvia. The only cannon that was found in the castle itself is currently in its South-eastern tower as a thematic exhibit. When it was being cleaned, two cannonballs were found in the weapons. The local Livonian Order castle is in ruins, but it and its defensive structures, including earthen ramparts that were installed from the mid-15th until the early 18th century, represent an important element of Latvia’s military heritage.
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The lighthouse at Akmeņrags supported maritime navigation in Soviet times. Today it is controlled by the Latvian Maritime Administration. The lighthouse is open for visitors.
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The Staldzene Zenith Missile Brigade used a large territory and a number of major buildings. Some of these are now privately owned, and a fish smoking facility has been installed at one of them.
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The Soviet Border Guard arrived at Lapmežciems (its border with Ragaciems) in the mid-1960s and left in 1991. Some 50 military personnel were stationed here. The military personnel and local residents organised various events and celebrations. The only thing that worried locals was a radar which was said to cause various problems. The zenith missiles were dismantled and taken away in 1991. An apartment building is still on what was then the military base. |
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The projector buildings of the former border guard facility have been preserved at Labrags, but they are privately owned.
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Another example of a costal defence battery along the Kurzeme shoreline is found here.
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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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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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The former air defence missile base took up a large territory to the South of Pāvilosta in its day, but today that land has been abandoned and degraded. It can be dangerous for visitors.
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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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Today it seems unbelievable that just 20 years ago there were buildings on the coastline with massive projectors that were rolled onto a platform at night so as to shed light on the nearby sea and beach and to look for potential violators of the border regime. Only the buildings and the ruins of the platform are still there – they have been seriously damaged by the waves of the sea.
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This was Coastal Defence Battery No. 500 at one time, and it was dismantled in 1955. There were four 130 mm cannons, and their foundations can still be spotted in the forest northeast from the lighthouse. They are mostly covered by moss and can be very hard to find. Those who are not familiar with the region will probably have the most trouble of all.
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The firing range at Skujnieki was once used for summer sports, as well as training in the use of firearms. The Defence Ministry still uses the facility from time to time. The central building of the facility was built in 1982, and its façade is decorated with text in the Russian language: “Слава КПСС” (“All Honour to the Soviet Communist Party).
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The Latvian Border Guard still uses some of the Soviet-era guard facilities that are at this location.
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A memorial to Finnish soldiers in
Klapkalnciems – five such soldiers from
World War I are buried here. The memorial
was first installed in 1929, but it was
destroyed by the Soviet authorities. It was
recreated in May 2004. The Lapmežciems
Museum features photographs and more
information about the Finnish soldiers.
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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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The Soviet Border Guard facility at Mērsrags was the start of the border regime zone. Absolutely nothing of the facility is left for perusal today.
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There are several large territories on either side of the Irbe River that were linked at one time by tank roads. Tank training and inspections were conducted here at one time, but now the territory has been abandoned and is slowly being reclaimed by the forest.
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Few Soviet military objects are associated with more legends than this one. During Soviet times, this was a reserve airfield, as well as a storage site (just 50 kilometres from the republic’s capital city) for nuclear weapons. These were hidden in two cement hangars that were covered with soil and vegetation. Public information suggests that an RX-24 nuclear bomb weighing 430 kg and a RX-26 nuclear bomb weighing 1,030 kg were stored here, as were air-to-land missiles equipped with nuclear explosives. If there had been an accident here, what would have happened to Rīga, to Latvia, to the Baltic States and to Northern Europe? The airfield is a closed territory today.
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