Eine einzigartige Kirche mit einem im 17. Jh. beiseite gebauten Glockenturm.

was first mentioned in written form in 1582.  A census in 1736 found two farms, Lekši and Žonaki.  A census in 1935 found that there were 106 people in Vaide, including 40 Livonians, 60 Latvians and a few Estonians and Germans.  In 1939, there were 21 homesteads in the village.  Nika Polmanis (1823-1903) was born at the Lāži homestead.  He was the first educated Livonian and lived in the region for all his life.  Livonian poet Alfons Bertholds (1910-1993) wrote a poem about a noble oak tree that grows alongside the homestead.  The vast Berthold family is linked to Žonaki -- Livonian storyteller Marija Šaltjāre, yacht captain Andrejs Bertholds (USA), his son, library scholar Artūrs Benedikts Bertholds (USA), Livonian poet Alfons Bertholds, Livonian language specialists Paulīne Kļaviņa and Viktors Bertholds, Swiss doctor Marsels Bertholds, globally renowned pianist Arturs Ozoliņš (Canada), and Livonian language storyteller and poet Grizelda Kristiņa (1910-2013), who was the last native speaker of Livonian.  The Ozolnieki homestead is also linked to the Bertholds family.  Paulīne Kļaviņa (1918-2001), a specialist in the fields of Livonian traditions and language, and her mother, Livonian storyteller Katrīna Zēberga, both lived there.  Paulīne collected ethnographic objects that can be seen at the Latvian Ethnographic Open Air Museum in the granary of the Livonian Dēliņi farm.  The Purvziedi homestead in Vaide is owned by forest ranger Edgars Hausmanis, who has a collection of forest animal horns and antlers.

This was an island after the Rīga hydroelectric power plant created a reservoir, and before that it was a peninsula on the Left Bank of the Daugava.  During World War I, there were massive battles between Latvian Riflemen and a much larger German army on Death Island.  On December 25, 1916, the Germans used poisonous gas against the Latvian troops.  In honour of this, the architect Eižens Laube designed a monument to fallen Latvian riflemen on the northern shore of Death Island.  It was unveiled in 1924.  Death Island can be reached by boat, and the trenches and graves there are of interest.  There is a pier for boats on the north-western shore of the island, and nearby is a location for leisure.  Some of the trenches and dugouts have recently been restored.  The battles were described by Aleksandrs Grīns in his masterpiece, “Snowstorm of Souls.”

The best place to look at the restricted area of the Vīķi swamp and the Lielauce lake which is in the middle of that swamp is the Lielauce castle, where a wooden pathway stars. The pathway will lead visitors across the swampy shores of Lake Lielauce and deliver them at a boating area on the open part of the lake. The swamp itself is to the South-east of the lake. The restricted area is there to protect biotopes and species in the area.

The church was opened in 1651 after half a century of sometimes interrupted construction.  It was fully rebuilt and took on its current appearance in 1876.  The church contains one of the most important church objects in Latvia – the oldest pulpit in the country (1590).  It was designed in the style of Mannerism.  The church also has a bell from a wrecked chapel of the local knighthood.  The bell was manufacture in 1450 and was installed at the church in the 19th century.  It is the oldest church bell in Latvia.  The German painter F. Wolff painted the altar painting, “Christ on the Cross,” and it, along with the altar, have recently been restored.

The restaurant is situated in the centre of Rezekne city, alongside the Rēzekne University College in a building with vaulted cellars. The restaurant has an interesting interior design and its menu is developed according to the seasons of the year.

Latvian cuisine: Cold soup, crepes, potato pancakes, roast pork, pork ribs, veal cakes, sautéed mutton, baked cod or trout.
Special foods: Goat’s cheese salad.

The cave, which is 45 m deep and up to 5.5 m wide is found on the right bank of the Strīķupe river, by the Cēsis-Lenči road. The cave and its nearby sandstone cliff have suffered much damage from local visitors, which is why the administrators of the national park limited access to the surrounding territory a few years ago. You can no longer approach the cave. This is a positive example of who an important geological monument and a protected biotope can be protected.

Atrodas blakus Kalnamuižas baznīcai. Dienvidos no tās redzama grāfa Pālena kapliča, uz kuras salasāms vecs uzraksts krievu drukā “Savu mieru dodu jums”. Šajos kapos atdusas daudzi ievērojami cilvēki – mikrobiologs Kristaps Helmanis, A. Brigaderes tēvs, Tērvetes ainavu parka veidotājs Miķelis Kļaviņš u.c.

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 18^th and 19^th 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.

Here you will learn about home-based manufacturers, farms, companies and others in northern Vidzeme that produce various dairy products such as milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, ice cream, etc.  You’ll start out in Cēsis with its Medieval old town, castle ruins, St John’s Lutheran Church and other destinations.  Wind your way through the Gauja National Park (Ungurmuiža, Lake Ungurs, the Medieval castle and church at Straupe).  You’ll hit the seashore at Saulkrasti and then drive along it to Tūja, where you will turn inland again.  In Limbaži you will find Medieval castle ruins, a monument to the great folklorist Krišjānis Barons and other objects.  Drive on to Valmiera (St Simon’s Church, castle ruins, a museum, Emotion Park, etc.), Rūjiena and Naukšēni (the Naukšēni Estate).  Along the “Northern Pathway” you will reach Kārķi and then Smiltene and legendary Rauna (the Raunas Staburags cliff) before returning to your starting point.