Latvia

Latvia's coat of arms combines the traditional heraldic symbols of Latvian statehood and national identity - three stars, the sun, the sea and oak leaves. Latvia's historical districts of Kurzeme and Zemgale are represented by a red lion, while Vidzeme and Latgale are depicted by a silver griffin.

As you travel just a few minutes outside of Riga or any of the other major Latvian cities, you will quickly discover that you are in the countryside. Latvia has about 50% of it's people living in Riga and the rest spread out over a country that take about 8 hours to drive across from West to East.
As you can imagine, Latvia has a lot of countryside and this countryside land is for the most part unvisited by humans. As you will find, there are places that perhaps a human has not walked in a long long time if perhaps ever. All this provides the visitor with an opportunity to experience something fresh; clean and in its natural state. This is an opportunity of a lifetime to see forested lands; grass meadows; vast coastlines; small hills and valleys and on and on.

Riga the Capital of Latvia
A hundred years ago Rīga the Capital of Latvia was known as the "Paris of the North". As it moves into the 21st century, Rīga is blossoming as a creative centre for the arts once again. Local and visiting art exhibits and the opera, theatre and ballet, compete with night clubs and discos that rock with jazz, blues and the latest electronic fusions of hip hop and dance music.

800 years young, Rīga has been called "The City of Inspiration", "The Second City that Never Sleeps", and "The Hottest City in the North".

Any lingering images of Communist deprivations are quickly blasted away by a stroll around Riga, with its gleaming renovated buildings, its fashion conscious mobile-phone carrying youth and the new wave of bars and cafes. The focus is still firmly on Riga's Old Town, which tumbles towards the banks of the Daugava River in a maze of cobbles, voluminous spires and impressive squares.

It is ironic that the city that was once besieged and captured by Germany now has Europe's most impressive array of Germanic art nouveau architecture, a fact recognised by UNESCO on its World Heritage List. Much of the art nouveau lies across Bastekalns Park in the New Town, the commercial and business heart of the city.

Reasons to visit Latvia
Rundale Palace is one of the most outstanding monuments of Baroque and Rococo art in Latvia. It was built between 1736 and 1740 as a summer residence of Duke Ernst Johann of Courland.
The Duchy of Courland-Semigallia, a vassal state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was founded in 1561 and it existed until 1795.
In 1737 Ernst Johann Biron, a landlord in Courland and favorite of the Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna, became the Duke of Courland-Semigallia.

Riga's Architecture - the architecture of the historic centre of Riga examples of all architectural styles characteristic for the Northern Europe, from Gothic to Modernism, are found.

The regular building of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries is characteristic for the planning of the historic centre, oriented towards the direction of main streets in the Old City, which emerged approximately in the 14th century.

Ethnographic Open-air museum of Lativa - In a pipe forest, by the lake Jugla, you find the oldest Open Air Museum in Europe. Latvian Ethnographic Museum was built in 1924 and now it is the biggest museum in the country - the territory of the unique museum is more than 100 hectares.

The museum is an island of Latvian folk art, where the ancient way of life is carefully recreated and preserved for posterities. More than ninety authentic houses, farmsteads, windmills, wooden churches, fishermen's villages and other historic structures have been brought here from different regions of Latvia and represent the life of craftspeople, peasants and fishermen in the 16-20 centuries.

Turaida Castle -The Turaida irregularly planned Bishop's Castle was built in 1214. Castle's portentous dwelling tower - Don John - was built in the 13th century. The old medieval castle was regularly extended up to the 17th century.

Now the picturesque castle is a part of Turaida Museum-reserve. Systematic archaeological excavations and restoration works take place in the territory of the castle. Visitors can see an exposition about the castle history and ancient Livs' life at the Gauja River (11th-13th centuries) in the restored buildings.

Jurmala - the largest resort city in the Baltic States is well-known for its natural treasures - the mild climate, sea, healthy air, curative mud and mineral water. The attraction of Jurmala hides in its almost 33 km long white sandy beaches, the large pine forest and the natural border of the city - the river Lielupe. In Jurmala, You will discover a combination of charming wooden houses built in the beginning of the last century and modern resort buildings.