Cesis Castle | Latvia

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Cesis is a medieval town in Latvia. The Cēsis Castle dates back 800 years. German crusaders known as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword (Livonian Knights) started construction of the castle in 1206. During the Great Northern War in 1703 the castle was demolished by Russian army but has never been restored.

 

The city of Cesis was a member of the Hanseatic League.

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Europa stamp 2015, Old Toys.

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Strūve Park in Jēkabpils | Latvia

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The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over 2,820 km. This helped to calculate the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. 

 

In Latvia there is a total of 16 points amongst which the astronomical observation station Jēkabpils is the most significant.

The Struve is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites since 2005.

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Waterfalls in Kuldīga | Latvia

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Kuldiga is a town on the Venta River in Latvia. The town is famous for having the widest waterfall in Europe (110m): Ventas Rumba.

 

In 1368, Kuldiga became a member of the Hanseatic League of trading cities because of its location as a river port with an outlet to the Baltic Sea.

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House of Blackheads in Riga | Latvia

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Riga served as a gateway to trade with the Baltic tribes and with Russia. The city became a member of the Hanseatic League in 1282.

The House of Blackheads was first mentioned in 1334. The Riga council rented the main hall to the Blackhead Brotherhood - a guild of young unmarried foreign merchants. As their patron, they chose St Maurice, whose paintings and sculptures tended to show him as a dark-skinned soldier dressed in armour. 

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Riga, capital of Latvia

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Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltic Sea region.

Riga was founded in 1201 and its historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Latvian Fairytales, 2009 issue. 

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Latvian Traditional Costume

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The Latvian national costume is basically the traditional festive outfit of peasants, craftsmen, fishermen, and other ordinary folk as worn in the 19^th century, approximately up to the 1870s.  

The basic element of the traditional costume is the shirt, which is an undergarment and an over-garment. Women’s shirts were long, coming down to under the knee and serving both as a blouse and a petticoat. Over the shirt, the women put skirts, bodices, jackets; whereas men wore a vest and a short jacket or a longer or shorter overcoat.  

The full outfit was not thinkable without a headdress: a crown for girls from their teenage years to the day of their marriage and a hat or a headscarf for married women; the men’s hat wearing was not so strictly regulated.

A part of the costume was also knit woolen or cotton lace socks and black flat heel shoes (in places – leather pastalas), for men sometimes boots. The shirt was closed by one small brooch or several ones, the big brooches were used to keep the cape in place.

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Coat of Arms, city of Saulkrasti, Latvia.

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A postcard from Valmiera, Latvia

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Valmiera is situated 110 km from Riga, close to the Estonian boarder, along the banks of the scenic Gauja River. The main tourist attractions are the local history museum and the Teutonic Knights’ castle ruins.

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Saulkrasti town, Coat of Arms.

 

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Frohliche Ostern, Eierkullern from Latvia

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Eierkullern goes as follows: at a low slope is an egg deposited. The players try to hit the egg with their egg by rolling it down the slope. The one that hits the other egg can keep it. You can also use slope instead of a board.

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Coat of Arms, city of Iecava, Latvia

 

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