Bordering the Baltic Sea, Latvia is located south of Estonia and Lithuania to the south, three small countries are collectively known as the Baltic states, and to the east they border Russia and Belarus. After Latvia's independence in 1991, it joined the European Union and became a member of NATO in 2004, a member of the Schengen Convention in 2007, and the 18th member of the Eurozone in 2014. In a country with only half the land area of Fujian Province, we mainly visited three places. First arrive at the northernmost Cesis, which has the World Heritage Site of Cesis; Then enter Riga, the capital of Latvia, live and visit the old city of Riga; The next day, continue south to Bauska to visit the number one scenic spot in Latvia, Londale Palace.
Transit through Latvia. Diagonally through Latvia from northeast to southwest, the journey is roughly as follows: from Tartu to Cesis (170 km), then to Riga, the capital of Latvia (90 km), and the next day to Bauska in southern Latvia to visit the Londel Palace (80 km). In Varga across the border between the two countries, from Estonia into Latvia, because both countries are Schengen members, so there is no check, the gate is very simple, but a supermarket on the Latvian side of the border (pictured below on the right) is very impressive, there are many wines, drinks and sausages, a wide variety of varieties, and the price is rare and cheap. As a result, everyone bought a lot of drinks here.
Cç is one of the oldest towns in Latvia and the capital of the northern Cçis district, a small, sparsely populated, very secluded town. Today it is a health resort with many high-end hotels and sanatoriums.
Ruins of the castle of Cesis. Cesis was chosen because of the ruins of this famous castle full of medieval romanticism, a World Heritage Site. The castle of Cesis has undergone many destruction and reconstruction throughout its history, and the ruins of the castle today date back to the 16th century, when the German Livonian Order, which controlled the area, restored and strengthened the castle and built new fortifications such as walls, moats and towers, making it the strongest fortress in the Livonian Knights and withstood the test of wars. Although the castle is now dilapidated, it is the best-preserved castle remains in Latvia and the grandest of the Baltic states.
This is a castle complex built on a hillside, built on the mountain, and with strong walls, I think it must have been easy to defend and difficult to attack. In the lands of the three small Baltic countries, the remains of fortress castles established by Germany's eastward expansion are often seen, while castles established by Russia's westward expansion are rare, and more common are the palace gardens established by Russia on this land, which seems to show that Russia has more dominance here.
For a €4 ticket, you can enter the castle for a tour.
Receiving a lantern from a girl in Latvian costume at the door, he climbed to the highest central castle with the lantern. The middle of the castle is dark due to the lack of lights and windows.
Judging from the exposed walls, the castle should have been built of stone at first, and later repeatedly restored with red bricks, although it has been baptized by wind and rain for hundreds of years, but it is still very strong. The further I went up, the narrower the stairs became, and at the narrowest point, I, the "big man", had to go sideways.
The ceiling of the hall in the middle of the castle is spectacular, completely made of brick carved roof, very artistic, is the monumental work of this castle, a fine piece of cultural relics, very rare.
Climb to the top and overlook the entire castle. It turned out that the "red hat" on top of the castle was made of wood. Through the windows at the top of the tower, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the castle and the surrounding landscape.
Arbitrarily inscribed "visit here" is not the exclusive property of the Chinese people, and there have been many people who have this hobby throughout the ages. But think about it, celebrities and officials casually pick up a pen is ink treasures, which is historical relics, and the people carving is destroying cultural relics, where to say this?
Riga is the capital of Latvia, close to the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea, at the intersection of Russia and Scandinavia, and is geographically important. Riga's Old Town is the main attraction, with its 50-hectare bluestone paths, several medieval buildings and more old houses already submerged in the growing number of modern buildings. Latvia became independent in 1991, and today there are almost few red marks on the streets of Riga.
The Town Hall Square is a must-see. The town hall is located on the west side of the square, north of the Old Town, with many churches, shops, restaurants and cafes, and the Old Town of Riga is also a World Heritage Site. In the center of the square stands the red granite statue "Latvian Red Infantry", a typical Soviet-style monument.
The "Latvian Red Infantry Statue" commemorates the First World War, an infantry division formed by Latvians, under the leadership of the Bolsheviks, participated in the "October Revolution" in Russia, became one of the bravest and good fighting forces under Lenin, and received the highest military medal - the Order of the Red Banner, which should be very honorable in the former Soviet period. After the collapse of the former Soviet Union, there was a dispute over whether to keep the statue of the "Latvian Red Infantry", and the final solution was to change the original "Red Soldier Memorial" behind the statue to the "Occupied Museum", the dark green building behind the monument, and the exhibits in the museum now record the history of Latvia during the Nazi and Soviet occupation from 1939 to 1991. Latvia is also a very small country that wants independence but is always repeatedly divided or occupied by large countries, and no matter what Latvians think, the historical fate is always like this.
The Palace of the Blackheads, to the right of the Town Hall Square, is one of the most ornate buildings in Riga (unfortunately under renovation). The building was originally built in the early 14th century and belonged to the Brotherhood of the Blackheads, a merchants' guild in Riga, the same organization we saw the day before yesterday in the Old Town of Tallinn. Bombed by German aircraft during World War II, the current building was rebuilt between 1995 and 1999. The statue of Roland in front of the Palace of the Blackheads, representing the medieval judiciary, freedom and independence of the city, is considered the protector of Riga.
Behind the square is the old street of the old town, probably the time is earlier (after 10 am), there are few people on the street, it seems a little depressed.
St. Peter's Basilica, built in the 13th century, is the tallest building in the city in the center of the ancient city of Riga, and has a similar height to the most famous St. Olaf Cathedral in Tallinn's Old Town (124 meters and 123 meters respectively), and you can stand on the spire platform overlooking the old city. But the ticket is much more expensive, Tallinn is 2 euros, Riga is 9 euros, you also need to climb on foot. The church building was originally a Gothic building, built in 1690, once the world's tallest wooden church bell tower (the church has a wooden church model, more than 120 meters of wooden tower is breathtaking). It is recorded that a fire broke out in the church in 1721, and Peter the Great, who was here at the time, personally directed the fire fighting at the scene. The restored church was destroyed again during World War II and was not renovated until after the end of the war and changed from a wooden structure to a metal structure.
The spire of the cathedral is a golden rooster wind vane, and the church still retains the rooster wind indicator at the top of the tower in the early years, which varies greatly from the two. It seems that in the old town of Riga, there is a shiny metal rooster wind vane on every roof. Legend has it that since the 13th century, hyacinth chickens have been considered a refuge from evil spirits by local residents, and the cry of the chicken three times at dawn indicates the return of the devil to hell. Later, the sides of the chicken were painted gold and black to identify the direction of the wind, and today the hyacinth chicken has become a unique symbol of Riga's old town.
Located in the square between St. Peter's Basilica and St. James' Church, the Bremen Musician statue is from the fairy tale Four Musicians of Bremen, and is now a landmark for young local men and women to date. The statue consists of four animals: chicken, cat, dog, donkey, chicken standing on the back of a cat, a cat standing on the back of a dog, and a dog standing on the back of a donkey. All four animals stretched their necks and sang with their mouths open. Tourists who come here like to touch the nose of the animal and take pictures, so the nose part of the donkey and cat at the bottom has been touched white. The statue was created by German sculptor Gerhard Marcks in 1951.
Rivi Square and Cat House. It is about a ten-minute walk from St. Peter's Church to Livu square, home to the Gothic Chamber of Commerce buildings "Large Guild Halls", "Little Kilt House" and the famous "Cat House".
The Cat house is a very famous building in Riga. Legend has it that at the beginning of the 20th century, a wealthy Latvian merchant, who was very rich but was rejected by the Great Kilt Guild composed of rich German and Dutch merchants because he was not German, built a building opposite the Great Kilt Hall and sculpted two black cats on top, and pointed his tail at the Grand Kilt Hall to show his contempt. In Europe, since the Middle Ages, the black cat has been a symbol of the devil's bad luck, but this black cat stood on the roof, so that the big kilt took him to court, and after mediation, the guild accepted him into the guild, and he also turned the cat on the roof to be safe.
Completely different from Tallinn, only the last section of the wall and the last gate of the old city of Riga remains.
Riga night view. When night falls, Riga becomes lively, and everyone seems to be looking forward to Riga who never sleeps. The highlight is probably on the banks of the Daugava River. There is a spectacular iron bridge over the river, which shines brightly in the light. On the opposite east bank is the new city of Riga, where the Riga railway station, TV tower, etc. are faintly visible.
Bauska-Longdale Palace. In the dense jungle of Bauska, 80 km south of Riga, stands alone the Londale Palace. The age of the Palazzo Londel is much younger than the old city of Riga, only 280 years. But such a lonely palace is at the top of the country's attractions, in front of Riga's Old Town, which has lived for more than 800 years and is a World Heritage Site, which shows the status of the Londel Palace in the hearts of Latvians, which seems to be more pro-Russian than Estonia and Lithuania.
Built in the mid-18th century (1736-1740), Londel Palace is a fine Baroque palace that was originally the summer residence of Duke Billund, ruler of the Kurland region of Latvia, and after the annexation of the area by Tsarist Russia in 1795, Queen Catherine II gave it to her lover, Prince Zubov.
The palace endured hardships and was requisitioned as a German army hospital during World War I, where soldiers who died were buried in the palace's park. During the Latvian War of Independence in 1919, the palace was destroyed by fire. During World War II, the palace was again severely damaged. Subsequently, the government converted the palace into a grain warehouse, a boarding school, and the ducal cafeteria was converted into a school gymnasium.
The two-storey Londale Palace features splendid ceiling carvings, frescoes, paintings, court furniture and other works of art, most notably the wood carvings on the walls and ceilings, but many places can no longer be restored and can be replaced by painted or plaster sculptures.
The palace was once known as the sister palace of the Petersburg Hermitage because it was designed by a genius designer of the Russian royal family, an Italian, who designed the Petersburg Hermitage and Londale Palace almost simultaneously.
The original furnishings in the palace are largely gone, only some paintings of figures on the walls remain, although it is not clear whether these paintings are still original.
What once made Londale Palace proud was the wood carvings on the walls and ceiling, which are vivid and lifelike, which is the essence of this palace. After World War II, these wood carvings have basically disappeared, and the statues on the ceiling and walls in front of you can only be restored with plaster, according to the pictures, whether in terms of artistic achievement, cultural relics value, or ornamentation, it is said that this is the main reason why the Palais Londale cannot enter the World Heritage List.
Through the basement, head to the back garden. In the basement are exhibited some of the iron and bronze artefacts, stone or plaster sculptures of the early years that survived the war. Although the exhibits are very old, the production process is quite elaborate and has high artistic attainments.
One of the highlights of the European-style garden behind the palace is the large area of flowerbeds, lawns, fountains, pavilions and manicured trees. At this time, the sky is beautiful, and the sky where the original clouds are thicker is exposed in the southeast, and the clouds change various shapes with the wind, and the various geometric figures presented on the earth complement each other. Standing here, it seems that you can vaguely feel the luxurious life of the nobles in the 18th century.
To be continued: [Review] Overview of the six Baltic countries 04-Youyou died in Lithuania