Kuldīga

Kuldīga (Goldingen in German) is a 12,981 inhabitants Latvian city on the banks of Venta river, and a very unknown touristic treasure, considered the pearl of Kurzeme. The town used to be the capital city of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia but after the Great Northern War was almost fully destroyed and never recovered the previous situation of prosperity. Here was born Max Weinreich, a Jewish linguist specialised in Yiddish.

How do I arrive to Kuldīga?

  Despite being a touristic places Kuldīga and Abava Valley aren't very well communicated, with transportation available just by bus and by car. 

• Bus: there are buses each 2 hours to Riga (aprox. 3 hours) from Kuldīga Bus Station for 6.40€ (one way). There are also 7 daily buses to Liepāja (aprox. 2 hours), 7 daily buses to Ventspils (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes) and also 7 daily buses to Alsunga (aprox. 40 minutes). 
• Car: in case of having a car Kuldīga can be reached from Alsunga (aprox. 25 minutes), Sabile (aprox. 40 minutes), Ventspils (aprox. 45 minutes), Kandava (aprox. 55 minutes), from Liepāja (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes), from Jūrmala (aprox. 1.5 hours), from Jelgava (aprox. 1 hour 45 minutes) and from Riga (aprox. 2 hours).

History

The origin of the ancient town Kuldīga can be explained by its location on the crossroads, being its first inhabitants the Couronians in a fortified castle mound. In 1242 the Livonian Order started to build a castle on the banks of River Venta and its rights as for a town were based on Riga city rights, receiving new privileges in 1355 from Goswin von Herike, the Order's master. In 1368 it joined the Hanseatic League and after establishing the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia in 1561, a new period began in the history of Kuldīga. with the first duke Gotthard Kettler making the former order castle to be one of his residences (and when he died and the dukedom was divided till 1618, it was the residence of his son Wilhelm and capital of Kurzeme). In 1615 the town suffered a huge fire which destroyed most of the constructions in the destroying the major part of the wood construction in Kuldīga. In the second part of the 19th century, small industrial companies began to be developed in the town, producing needles, cigars, soap, vodka, beer (very traditional here since the Livonian Order times), liqueurs and mineral water and whose largest factory was “Vulkāns” (producing matches till 2004). Lots of new buildings were built in this period of time and the population grew before WW1. During the war it was invaded by Germany, planning to resore the Duchy of Kurzme under Prussian administration.
 

What can I visit in Kuldīga?

Kuldīga has an interesting walk enjoying its history and architecture, with beautiful squares like Rātslaukums, where there's the Old Town Hall and the oldest wooden house in Kuldīga. Walking in one of its main streets, Liepājas iela, can be found the statue Teleport by Gļebs Panteļēje. The nature around Kuldīga is great to do outdoor activities like boat rental, hiking or cycling.

These are Kuldīga's main attractions:

• Kuldīga Castle Park: park place where there used to be a 13th century castle destroyed during the Great Northern War, keeping some visible remains of it. Near there's the Castle Guard's House, 18th century building where used to live a guard protecting the remaining ruins of Kuldīga castle. This house suffered a smear campaign, being accused of having hosted assainations and beheadings
• Kuldīga District Museum (10-18 Wed-Sun; 12-18 Tue; free): local museum which is said to be placed in the Russian Pavilion in 1900 Paris exposition. In the 2nd floor there's a typical Kuldīga rich family house from the beginning of the 20th century, with a collection of deck of cards. 
• Venta Rapid: the widest waterfall in Europe (240 m) is located in Kuldīga, even though they aren't high. It has one of the longest brick bridges in the continent and the most appealing thing is observing vimba breams flying the waterfall, in order to reproduce. In summer it's possible to swim here and there's a nice river beach in Mārtiņsala park. There are also Alekšupīte Waterfall, highest waterfall in Latvia (4.5 m) in Alekšupīte estuary
• St. Katrīnas Lutheran Church: church, first built in the 12th century, was built as it is nowadays during Duke Jacob times, in the mid 17th century. This is because it was where he was baptised.
• Duke's Pharmacy: 17th century German style building which used to be a pharmacy.
• St. Trīsvienības Catholic Church: 17th century Catholic church whose construction was ordered by Jacob Kettler and which owns many treasures of sacred art.
• Former Synagogue of Kuldīga: synagogue from 1875 that was transformed after Holocaust, first in a cinema and then in the main library in Kuldīga and a local art center.
• Svētās Dievmātes Patvēruma Russian Orthodox Church: 1871 church with a very small parish (it's rarely open) but whose frescos and its gate are nice to be seen.
• Going 2.5 km north by the river Venta can be seen the place where there used to be an important mound hill from the Couronian leader Lamekins and whose castle was said to be so beautiful that when the Germans arrived, they were reluctant to sack it.
  
• Just 5 km from Kuldīga there are the Sand Caves of Riežupe (11-17 from May to Oct; tour for 6€), caves built by a family for generations used to manufacture glass.

Venta Rapid

Kuldīga Old Town

Abava Valley

Kuldīga is the most visited place in Abava Valley Nature Park, but the Switzerland of Kurzeme can also surprise you with other two nice towns. The nearest of to Kuldīga (45 km) is Sabile (Zabeln in German), a weird town with 3,220 inhabitants with a funny Wine Festival (last weekend of July). It'd be a normal Latvian town if its inhabitants hadn't decided to make it special with trying to break records (for example, Vīna kalns of Sabile used to be the most northern open-air vineyard in the world). It has some interesting to do like visiting the Pedvāle Art Park (10-18 from May to Oct; 10-16 from Nov to Apr; 3€/ 2.50€  adults/ retiree, students and kids), park founded in 1991 by Ojars Felbergs with many of his works of art and collaborations, among them Muna Muna, Chair or Petriflora Pedvalensis; the Garden of Dolls (every day; donation), garden with straw dolls with different costumes designed and owned by Daina Kučera;

Kandava Lutheran Church

the Wooden Toy Museum (booking on advance; 2€), a good local collection of wooden toys done by the local artist Andris Millers with a wide tematic or Vīna kalns, also known as Wine Hill (10-18 Mon-Sat and 10-16 Sun; ), a hill first used to produce wine in the 13th century (used in the 17th century by Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland and Semigallia too) and whose wine can be tried in the Wine Festival. The local 19th century synagogue was transformed into the Contemporary Art and Culture Heritage Center Synagogue by Felbergs. A bit further from Kuldīga (60 km) there's Kandava (Kandau in German, Kāndav in Livonian), a 4,029 inhabitants town with Kandava Castle Ruins (where having great views of the area) and some temples like Kandava Lutheran Church (whose origin dates back to 1567, with Duke Gotthard Kettler) or Kandava Synagogue. In Kandava and its suroundings there are some interesting historic hotels like Kukšu Manor or Rūmenes Manor.

Where can I eat in Kuldīga?

The gastronomic offer isn't bad in Kuldīga and there are many places where the dessert rupjmaizes kartojums (mixture of rye bread with cream and honey) can be tried. In case you have a low budget some recommendations are the cafe Makkabi (Liepājas iela 9) or the cafe Pagrabiņš (Baznīcas iela 5), with both international and Latvian food; if your budget is a bit higher and you want to try exotic Latvian food, the restaurant Bangert's (Pils iela 1) may be a good choice or places like the Italian restaurant Goldingen Room (Baznīcas iela 2).

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