So... I decided to continue making new threads.
Selija is fifth historical region in Latvia - and it is the the less known contrary to Latgale, Zemgale, Vidzeme, Kurzeme. Administratively it is joined with Zemgale.
Until 13th century in this land and also in Lithuanian side of the border there were living Baltic people - Selonians. After the conquest of Crusaders (in Latvian side) and creation of stronger Lithuanian state Selonians dispersed among the future nations of Latvians and Lithuanians.
In this map you see situation before present day borders were established. The darkest brown colour shows the place where Selonians were living.
http://aidenis.mch.mii.lt/Kankles/graphics/e_186b.jpg
Western part of present day Selija is very forested, villages and smaller cities are located along rivers. This was one of the last strongholds of paganism - many paganic shrines which were hidden in forests, were eliminated in 18th century, but some remained until much later times.
Eastern part of Selija today is more densely populated. This is melting pot for numerous nations - Latvians, Russians, Belorussians, Poles, Lithuanians - creating unique rural architecture, which still has to be discovered by local investigators.
Reference map of Latvia. Turn your attention to the eastern part of border with Lithuania - you will see pictures from Nereta, Ilukste, Daugavpils
http://www.rootsweb.com/~lvawgw/map.gif
In recent months I had two short trips to some less visited parts of Selija. Here are some pictures:
1. Landscape in the Western part of Selija. Look from tower in Ormankalns.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Ormanjkalns-skats2-25mai04.jpg
2. Nereta castle, left flank. 16th century. Has been standing in ruins for long time but now some active people are trying to renovate it.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Neretas-pils3-25mai04.jpg
3. Garsene palace. Local landowners at the end of 19th century have been interesting people trying to develop a kind of small neogothic town here. Rather many buildings in small Garsene village have ornate style - not always with great taste but interesting anyway. School in the palace today.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Garsenes-pils3-25mai04.jpg
Palace has got... khm, some chimneys. Should be a lot of work to make it warm in wintertime...
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Garsenes-pils-skurstenji-25.jpg
4. Entrance in Garsene lutheran church. Whole church was nearly impossible to photograph - it is hidden in dense woods. This is problem in Latvia - many nice monuments and views are hidden behind trees and bushes.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Garsenes-bazn-ieeja-25mai04.jpg
5. Cemetery in Garsene. Graveyard for local landlords.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Garsenes-kaplica-25mai04.jpg
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Garsenes-kaplica2-25mai04.jpg
6. Asare village has got beautiful buildings in centre too. Most of them in hopeless condition... Here you see remains of palace - the central ballroom had these 7 windows with glasswork. The ceiling of the ballroom was painted like night sky, the building was very ornate...
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Asares-muizas-drupas2-25mai.jpg
7. Subate town - small, picturesque town on the border with Lithuania. Four lakes around the town. Here you see catholic church with belltower. I think that in Lithuania such buildings with separate belltower could be common, but in Latvia - not that many.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Subate-katolu-bazn-22jul04.jpg
Bebrene village is beautiful - worth visiting!!! Any place says here - "art is everywhere" and local people seem to love their village very much too. Hope, they would be good at attracting money for infrastructure, because everything there is clean and brought in order... just more money needed to renovate EVERYTHING!
8. Bebrene palace, today used as school:
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Bebrenes-pils-22jul04.jpg
9. Gate to the palace. Nearby was standing shield with everything whats happening in the village.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Bebrenes-pils-varti-22jul04.jpg
10. Bebrene professional school of agronomy, built in 1930ies. I have learned to love Functionalism - and Selija has enormous wealth in this style to offer.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Bebrenes-arodskola-22jul04.jpg
11. Catholic church in the village.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Bebrene-katolu-bazn-22jul04.jpg
12. Some artist has painted four saints on the front side of the church. Here we see St. Luca at painting. All the pictures were interesting!
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Bebrene-Sv.jpg
13. Windows in Eastern Selija have distinct style. This is not well choosen - windowblinds are missing. But you get the idea. This window belongs to Orthodox church in Eglaine - small village with three churches.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Lasu-pareizt-bazn-logs-22ju.jpg
14. Nature walks in Pilskalne. You got three options - from 2 km long walk to 8 km long one. Area is beautiful, there are located 7 ancient castle mounds around small lakes - highest density of ancient settlements in this area.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Pilskalnes-Siguldina2-22jul.jpg
Ilukste is small town not far from Daugavpils. Clean, very green, pleasant town on hills not far from Daugava river. One aspect makes it very interesting - Ilukste is rich with good Functionalism architecture. This region was poor and the government in 1920ies - 1930ies subsidized it. Subsidies were well used to build different public buildings in very modern style. Ilukste has got some 15 interesting buildings in something between Art Deco and Functionalism. Do not forget that this town has also something in Barocco and other interesting styles.
15. School in Ilukste. Art Deco + Functionalism. You either hate or love this... I love :)
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Ilukstes-skola-22jul04.jpg
16. Medumi village is some 30 km from Ilukste. It has got its share of Functionalism too. Here you see catholic church in this style.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Medumu-baznica-22jul04.jpg
17. Return to earlier times. This looks like Roccoco+ Classicism. Palace in Svente village near Daugavpils. Municipality looks for money to complete the reconstruction...
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Jaunsventes-pils-22jul04.jpg
18. Some 150 m from the border with Lithuania - small village called Egypt (Egipte). Cemetery from the first World War - after the fight Germans have installed crosses both for their own people and for enemies - Russians (written - "unkown Russian"). Btw. that one could be Lithuanian or Latvian as well - to Germans all of them were just Russians. Strange, people kill each other and only afterwards give some respect to enemy... Shouldn' t we all, reading this, be happy that we should not kill each other? (Sounds ridiculous?)
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Egiptes-bazn-kapi2-22jul04.jpg
19. Our greatest writer and philosopher - Rainis - lived near Daugavpils for great part of his life. For a while he lived also at Birkenele manor in suburbs of Daugavpils. Happily museums in Latvia for most part are in good condition.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Birkeneles-pusmuiza-22jul04.jpg
20. Just at the borders with Daugavpils - Kalkune village - in reality part of Daugavpils. It has got this palace, built in 1870ies. In 1926 it was rebuilt as the place for childbirth. In Soviet time it was turned into institution for children without parents. Somehow they have left the palace empty and are living in ugly commieblocks around it... The palace stands empty now :( That place was hideous... only the flowers saved it to some extent.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Kalkunes-pils-22jul04.jpg
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Kalkunes-pils4-22jul04.jpg
And now some pictures from second largest city in Latvia - Daugavpils. This city is not part of Selija anymore - it is in Latgale. I did not have time to make some more pictures - but this city has many beautiful things! Hope to visit it soon again.
The city has construction boom nowadays - it has got many cranes around. The centre has changed totally over the last years. Two stylish multifunctional centres have been built recently. One of them is very interesting - large building enclosing the historical market.
22. Small Orthodox church in centre. Whole centre is cleaned up and very fine!
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Daugavpils-bazn-pie-Vieniba.jpg
22. Hotel "Latvia" and central square undergoing large reconstruction. Just 11 floors, what a pitty :( Only the hospital of Daugavpils has got 12 floors
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Daugavpils-viesnica-Latvija.jpg

Some of these images have sort of a dreamy feeling to them, like that village in "Big Fish" where everybody was barefooted.
This one for example:
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Garsenes-kaplica-25mai04.jpg

I like that combo of Art Deco and Functionalism too :)

Thanks Gatis!
Very interesting thread.
Shows that Latvian rural areas have a lot of potential. All they need is some money injections! I wouldnt mind going there myself some day!

Btw i love this building:

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/Selija/Daugavpils-viesnica-Latvija.jpg

Is it new or is it just a renovated commie-block? Because if it's the latter then it would be a great example of how to renovate commieblocks!

NorthStar - these villages look like some place in dream. There are many weird and unusual buildings with woodcarvings... But there are many ugly buildings among as welll. Anyway - these walks in countryside are extremely fine and nowadays they are possible with high comfort.

@blimey, this is renovated commieblock, which looked like this before:
http://www.hotel.dpunet.lv/foto.jpg

Paldies, Gati
Thank you
Very interesting pictures of Selija.

Gatis :hi:

Thank you for showing us beautiful Selija and Latgale and including such delightful pictures in your thread. You certainly have a fine eye for your subject!

I am really fond of the Kalkune Palace, which you label as hideous! ;) Notwithstanding the building's dire need of restoration, there is something very aesthetic and pleasant about chipped-stucco and exposed mortar edifices like this.

Ahh, some of the Orthodox churches in that part of the world look so playful and imaginative...as though they were constructed by "child engineers" who are drawn to playful curves, vibrant colors and interesting designs.


A FEW QUESTIONS/COMMENTS:

I'm just curious why Lithuania would be more prone to having churches/cathedrals with separate bell towers than Latvia?

I would have thought that Latvia's second largest city was another port city, and not Daugavpils...in the rural hinterland of Latvia. But it makes sense, given that the area has such a high population density.

FINALLY, Gatis...

It is nice to see that you give so much careful thought and attention to your threads! :applause: :bow: Keep up the good and interesting work!

As a side note:
I was truly stunned by our fellow S&B forumer gm2263's hard work in Athens Acropolis: The Definitive Thread!!! (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=124168) Don't forget to visit and let Gregory know what you think about his pictures and accompanying narrative.

Many thanks for appreciation!!! :)

@M&P - regarding the separate belltowers. This is traditional for catholic rural architecture and also in cities (You may remember the magnificent belltower at Vilnius Cathedral - it is built using the former fortification tower). Lithuania is mostly catholic country with lots of such churches. In Latvia catholic is mainly eastern part, although nearly any more or less large centre will have at least three churches for Lutherans, Catholics and Orthodox.

Yes, Daugavpils really ist the second largest city in Latvia. Third comes Liepaja - you may be meant this city. Unfortunately Liepaja has been hard hit by wars and crisis - in 1913 and in 1939 Liepaja had far more inhabitants than today.

OK, will look at Acropolis thread, thanks for advising!

I knew that Ilūkste was completely destroyed during 1WW.
I was surprised when Gatis posted pictures of Ilūkste of 20-30's.

It is interesting to see progress, especially in Daugavpils.
As I remember the monument of Lenin was in the square in front of the Daugavpils hotel. Where is it now?

Romai, welcome, sveikas prisijunges :wave:

Koknese (Kokenhausen?) is by the Daugava river in Vidzeme region just in front of Selija.
I guess the castle was destroyed in XVII century during PL/LT war with Sweden.
Ruines were on the high hill in mouth of the river Perse.
In ~1959 during construction of Pļaviņas power station river flooded almost to the ruines.
I have only couple of pictures, so I posted here.

June 2003
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/romas/Latvija/LV_2003_0630_8_Koknese.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/romas/Latvija/LV_2003_0630_9_Koknese.jpg

Wow, some really nice pics of the unknown Latvia over here (quite unknown for me tbh) and hey, I really like them! :)

I just couldn't locate the cities in the map, could someone tell me where are they? In the Eastern part of the country, in the West, close to Daugavpils? :?

@boom - Selija is in the south-east, near border with Lithuania, closer to Daugavpils.
@Romas - Koknese really is in the opposite side across Selija. In this area there are located the most interesting landscapes and monuments of Selija... but unfortunately they are not shown in this thread...

Hey, welcome aboard, Romai :cheers1: Latvia has really some interesting places :yes:

Last weekend I visited my relatives close to Latvian border.
It was a good occasion to have small trip in Latvia as well.

Augšzeme (Selija) is in left bank of Daugava, Latgala – in the right bank
Augšzeme always administratively belonged to Courland (Kurzeme), but population is mixed. I guess Roman Catholics are majority in Ilūkste - Daugavpils region.
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/2039/lvdaugavpils3ha.jpg

Subate , small town close to LT/LV border.
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/8606/081400268ax.jpg

Lutheran church (1685)
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/5083/081400280dl.jpg

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/9790/081400274ky.jpg

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/1521/08140027x7ft.jpg


Červonka. Catholic cemetery.
Graves of Lithuanian soldiers, lost during battles with Bolsheviks in 1919-1920.
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/1136/081400293ab.jpg
MG]

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7410/081400300sr.jpg


Eglaine. Railway station
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9181/081400315qt.jpg

Laši are situated close to Eglaine
Lutheran church
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3429/081400327cn.jpg

Graves of German soldiers perished in 1WW
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/558/081400332pv.jpg


Ilūkste
Lutheran church
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7926/081400346xs.jpg

Roman Catholic church. It was destroyed during world wars. I have seen a picture with baroque tower(s)
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9516/081400357kh.jpg

Dviete
Roman Catholic church. 1775- 1864
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9619/081500019ko.jpg

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/1117/081400374gm.jpg

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3065/081400361lt.jpg


Svente.
Roman Catholic church.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5527/081500039yd.jpg


Latgale Region is situated on other side of Daugava
Juzefova is close to Naujene. BTW, I gues this word is similar to Lithuanian "naujas" - "new" (Latvians say "jauns").
Neo gothic Roman Catholic church
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7421/081500041ps.jpg

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2922/081500053bi.jpg


Daugavpils (Dünaburg) castle ruins
http://img258.echo.cx/img258/773/081500068fs.jpg

Livonian castle was in this place till 1577 when troops of Russian tsar Ivan Groznyj destroyed it during Livonian war.
Later Daugavpils (Dünaburg) was removed to present location.

There is a small model of the Dünaburg castle close to the ruins.
http://img258.echo.cx/img258/2223/081500072eo.jpg

http://img258.echo.cx/img258/8639/081500084dq.jpg

http://img258.echo.cx/img258/8086/081500094bw.jpg

Romas, you have been investigating area of Latvia, which I love very much. Next year Daugava river between Kraslava and Daugavpils would be declared as national park "Daugavas loki"... finally.
...How did you find this old thread???

Romas, stunning pictures of Roman catholic churches in Selija and Latgale !

I like this area, too. My father`s family comes from Latgale and I like to travel there. This region still - with few exceptions - is the poorest one in Latvia. I had a chance to compare Latgale with Aukštaitija - I must admit, Aukštaitija look more well ordered, and roads are much better than in Latgale (I travelled from Ukmerge to Moletai - later to Utena (Vilnius - Utena road) and from Utena to Zarasai (Kaunas - Daugavpils road) and then to Daugavpils. Beauty of these regions is similar.

It seems to me, Latgale lost more of its native residents (Latvians, Jews, Poles, Russian Old Believers, Belarussian catholics etc.) in and after WW2 and new colonists came in and some bad consequences happened, which affected Aukštaitija in smaller scale. Daugavpils is also closer to Vilnius and Kaunas than Riga.

I find Aukštaitija very interesting and beautiful region and will visit it again one day.

Thank you for coments
...How did you find this old thread???
I remembered that it was the first my post in SSC :)

Some pictures of
Daugavpils (Dünaburg(DE), Dyneburg(PL), Dvinsk(RU), Daugpilis (LT))
The second city of LV with population of ~120k. BTW, population exceeded 100k even before 1WW.

After long break I visited this city. It was interesting for me that architecture of center of city (XIX-XX centuries) well preserved. I have never paid attention on it before.

Main street Rīgas iela - from railway station to Daugava River.
http://img17.echo.cx/img17/2127/081500151nl.jpg

Small square close to main street
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/74/081500113vh.jpg

Couple of catholic churches
Cathedral (1905)
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/1743/081500108ix.jpg

St. Peter’s church (1924)
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/9866/081500149tk.jpg

New commercial center. The old tram.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/9860/081500120fv.jpg

Vienības laukums (square of Unity)
The Latvija Hotel was reconstructed last year, as we see from the first pictures in this thread (taken by Gatis) :) )
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/447/081500137fw.jpg
I guess the writing on the hotel "Latgola" is in Latgalian dialect (or language).

Haven't been in Daugavpils since last year, it is interesting for me to see how they shaped the central square. Not too bad, but may be one day they will make it better ;)
Daugavpils is pretty rich with arhitecture, if you manage to drive around.
- - -
Btw. national composition of Latvians has increased in Daugavpils to 17% ;) Back in 1990 it was 12% only.
- - -
"Latgola" really is "Latgale" in their dialect. If Latgalians one day will manage to become prosperous and better organised, they will insist on having Latgalian declared as separate language - I am sure. Then we might end up with having three live Baltic languages.

^^^ 4 if semogitians do the same (and they already lobbying for it) ;)

Thanks for the pictures, Romas, too bad there are only few from Daugavpils. Btw, I always wondered, what are the most Latvian towns in Latvia? :|

Latest statistical data shows rather fast increase of Latvians in last years:
year 2000
Latvians = 1 370 703, 57,7%
Russians = 703 243, 29,6%
Belorussians = 97 150, 4,1%
Ukrainians = 63 644, 2,7%
Poles = 59 505, 2,5%

year 2005
Latvians = 1 357 274, 58,8%
Russians = 660 684, 28,6%
Belorussians = 88 287, 3,8%
Ukrainians = 59 011, 2,6%
Poles = 56 511, 2,5%

The people are also mixing up, in former "pure-breed Russian" districts live more and more Latvians. In Soviet times Russians were brought in as factory workers and many times there were built special towns for them (Vangazi, Zilaiskalns, Seda) or city districts (Kauguri in Jurmala, nearly all commieblock districts in Riga). Now these, mostly low-quality, factories are dead and people dissolve.
-
Among the seven bigger towns/cities the most Latvian is Jelgava = 54,4% Latvians. Then come:
- Ventspils = 53,7%;
- Liepaja = 51,4%;
- Jurmala = 50,1%;
- Rezekne = 43,8%;
- Riga = 42,3%;
- Daugavpils = 17,7%

15 years ago none of the seven bigger towns had Latvian majority, now Latvians are minority in three only - in Riga, Daugavpils, Rezekne. We expect that over one-two years Latvians won't be minority in Riga anymore.
-
The most Latvian district is Talsi district = 92,1%. I would suppose that Talsi is the most Latvian town as well.
-
If frankly - I personally do not care that much about the cities being "Latvian" or "non-Latvian". Could be just good if they know Latvian language when speaking with me and care about this country. Most do now.

Thanks for the data. So seems like Latvians live in minor towns and also that minorities leave the country, but that Riga will become with Latvian majority in 1-2 years is a little too optimistic ;) Btw, how big is Talsi and can you provide the link with data of Latvian towns?

7 biggest cities and towns in Latvia (www.csb.lv, data from 2000)

Rīga 764328 (not counting aglomeration of Riga, which makes approximately half of the Latvia`s population)


Daugavpils 114829

Jelgava 63269


Jūrmala 55671


Liepāja 89439


Rēzekne 39462


Ventspils 43891


Population density in rural areas in Latvia is approximately 2 times smaller than in Lithuania. One hundred years ago Latvia had bigger population than now (now - 2,3 millions, then 2,5 millions).

^
Gatis is right - 2005 data shows

42,3% of Latvians in Riga and
42,6% of Russians in Riga. Most of Ukrainians and Belarussians, and some Latvians (some persons like Jānis Bērziņš) use Russian as their first language in Riga.

2005 data

Rīga 731762 (shows more and more people moves to small towns around Riga)
Daugavpils 110379
Jelgava 66136
Jūrmala 55603
Liepāja 86264
Rēzekne 36798
Ventspils 44017

Thanks for the photos, architectural heritage is truly amazing :)
Very off topic: So how many Lithuanians are in Latvia?

31 717 (2005 data) or 1,4%

Poles - 2,5% 56 511

Jews 9883

Germans 3788

Tatars 2927

Armenians 2672

Estonians 2537

can you provide the link with data of Latvian towns?

Here U r:
http://www.pmlp.gov.lv/images/documents/sast2.pdf

data for every pagasts in Latvia by population and by ethnic composition

Lovely,love those old buildings,very cool :cheers:

Here U r:
http://www.pmlp.gov.lv/images/documents/sast2.pdf

data for every pagasts in Latvia by population and by ethnic composition

Thanks a lot :)