Rāzna National Park

Rāzna National Park (also know as Rāznas Nacionālais Parks in Latvia) is a 532 km² park in the etnographic region of Latgale, Latvia, in the Samogitian Highlands. Rāzna Lake is the biggest lake in the Park and in the country and, even though the National Park doesn't have too many places to visit (despite being the 2nd largest national park), it hosts some beautiful villages like Andrupene and it's a good place to practice outdoors sports.

How do I arrive to Rāzna National Park?

 The best way to reach this National Park is going to Andrupene (in the southern part of the Park) because Lipuški is harder to reach.

• Train: the nearest train station is located in Rēzekne.
• Bus: there are two daily buses that link Rēzekne to Dagda and stop at Andrupene (aprox. 1 hour). To arrive to Aglona there are two buses from Daugavpils (aprox. 1.5 hours) and three from Krāslava (aprox. 1 hour).
• Car: if you rented a car, many destinations can be reached easily from Andrupene such as Dagda (aprox. 15 minutes), Lipuški (aprox. 20 minutes), Aglona (aprox. 25 minutes), Krāslava (aprox. 40 minutes), Rēzekne (aprox. 45 minutes), Ludza (aprox. 1 hour 5 minutes) and Daugavpils (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes).

 Once in the Park, a good choice to move along it is renting a bike and cycling along it or going by car.

History

The area was first inhabited by Baltic tribes (1800-1500 BC). The first mention of Aglona was in 1263, where the Lithuanian king Mindaugas killed his two sons Rukli and Rupeiki (and according to the legend his wife survived and created a spiritual and prosper community here). In 1687 the nobleman Ieva Justin Shostovicka called Dominicans from Vilnius to stablish a church and monastery and so they did (the location was chosen with a vision from a girl called Anita). The first church was wooden and it was burnt down in a fire in 1766 (only the image of Our Lady could be saved) and built the current Baroque style temple. Meanwhile Dagda municipality (where Andrupene is located) was first mentioned in the 17th century and a Catholic church was built in the following one. In 1935 the area was mostly inhabited by Jewish and Latvians. Rāzna National Park was created in 2007 thanks to Daugavpils University.

What can I visit in Rāzna National Park?

These aren't many things to do in this National Park but it's a good point to relax or practice outdoors and adventure activities:

• Lipuški (Ли́пушки in Russian): small 265 inhabitants village created by Old Believers and which hosted in 1893 the largest comunity of Old Believers in all the Baltic countries.
  • Rāzna Lake: lake that is considered the 1st lake in volume in Latvia and 2nd largest of the country. It suffered an important deterioration of its ecological state and in 1999, funds were allocated to create a nature park (transformed into the Rāzna National Park in 2007). The lake is home to many fish species such as the northern pike, stickleback, stone loach, european eel, tench, sander, perch...
    
  • Rāzna Nature Education Center: visitor center where getting information about the national park. It has an exposition too, showing the territories and fauna and flora of Rāzna National Park. 
  • Lipuški Old Believers Church: wooden church first built in 1893 but the current prayer house was built in 1904. Its outter outlook is similar to a house because until 1905 old believers churches could only be this way (without bells, crosses and domes). Over the years, it has suffered from robbers, so the real icons are no longer placed in the premises (but photo reproductions).
  • In the outskirts of the village there's a hill called Mākoņkalns (249 m high) with views to the lake and where used to be a Livonian Order castle from the 13th century (the oldest in Latgale), now just visible the Ruins of Volkenberg Castle.
  • On the northern side of Rāzna Lake there's Čornaja Bay, a good place to sail the lake with some companies like Buru Guru.
  • Going out of the village, between Astici and Krepši, there's a path that lead to a sacrifice stone, Zīleņu Upurakmens, an old Latgalian cult site.
• In the northwestern part of the park, not far from Lake Rāzna, there's Lūznava Manor (10-18:30 from Jun to Sep; 9-16 from Oct to May; tour 5€/ 4€  adults/ kids; tour and meal 12€): 20th century manor considered an Art Nouveau gem of Latgale, built as a gathering place for musicians, artists, and writers. It has temporary expositions and accomodation as well.
• Going 20 km by road there's the Lielais Liepu Hill (289 m high), the highest peak of Latgale and the third highest peak of Latvia: Here it was built wooden sightseeing tower (highest in Latvia) that provides nice views to Rāzna Lake and many others places in and around Rāzna National Park.
• Andrupene (Андрепно in Russian): 278 people village in the southern part of the National Park, north of Biža Lake. It was established on the land of the former Andrupene manor after 1910.
  • Farmstead of Andrupene (booking on advance): ethnografic museum placed in a 1920s farm which shows the importance of rural life for Latvians and how traditional life is in this part of the country or get acquainted with pottery.
  • Andrupene Catholic Church: church from 1849, built on the remains of a previous wooden one. It has quadrangular shape and no towers, while ts interior has an arched ceiling with beautiful oak squares and three stone altars.
    
  • Andrupene Swamp Path (0.7 km): trail around a small bog where discovering and enjoying swamp world. It's located near the Farmstead of Andrupene.  
  • Not far from Andrupene there's Kroms Mount (booking on advance), a reconstructed 9th-10th century wooden castle.
• Going 12 km east from Andrupene there's Ežezers Lake, a lake included in the National Park in 2006 that has the highest number of islands in a Latvian lake (between 32 and 36). It has Ezernieki Beach (a facilitated beach), Piļoru Oak Grove (one of few oak groves in Latvia, whose oldest oaks are around 300-400 years old) as its main highlights.
• Dagda (Дагда in Russian): small town with 1,967 inhabitants village on the outskirts of the national park. It preserves early-20th century houses in Skolas iela that used to belong to its Jewish population.
  
  • Farmstead of Andrupene (booking on advance): ethnografic museum placed in a 1920s farm which shows the importance of rural life for Latvians and how traditional life is in this part of the country or get acquainted with pottery. 
  • Dagda Catholic Church: Baroque style church built in 1741 by the landlord Jans Augusts Hilzens. Its interior has three magnificent stone altars with cornices and pilasters, two paintings in the main altar and a monument to Count Hilzens family. 
  • Pokrov St. Nikolaja Old Believers Church: 20th century church whose inner furnishings and holy things are of great value. 
  • St. Nicholaja Russian Orthodox Church: wooden church first built in 1915 (although the original building was destroyed and had to be rebuilt).
    
  • Cinema Komjaunietis: building colored into bright blue-green that was constructed as cinema in 1953.
  • Dagda Manor Park: park that is more than 300 years old, the only thing left from the Dagda Manor, that today is a popular promenade and has a hillock in its center.
  • Dagda Castle Mound: archaeological monument that is now used as a park.
    
  • Jewish Cemetery of Dagda: small cemetery with tombstones frim the period between the beginning of 19th century until the 1980s, apart from monuments honouring Jews killed in WW2.
    

Farmstead of Andrupene

Lipuški Old Believers Prayer House

Basilica of Aglona

Near Rāzna National Park, 30 km east from Andrupenes, there's Aglona (Aglyuna in Latgalian, Aglohn in German, Аглона in Russian), a 874 inhabitants village located between the lakes Cirišs and Egles. This small place is one of the most visited in Latvia due to a pilgrimage which takes places in August 15th (which dates back to the 18th century, when a fountain was thought to have curative effects) to Basilica of Aglona. This 18th century Italian-Baroque style Catholic church is one of the most important Catholic spiritual centers in Latvia (it was the seat of the bishop of Riga in the period 1920-1924) and it was granted the title of Basilica minoris by Pope John Paul II. Its white façade has two towers and inside there are cross vaults, arches, columns and Rococo ornaments. The other interesting point of the village are Aglona Bread Museum (10-18 Mon-Sat; tour 5€ /4€  adults/kids; tour and meal 12€), a museum which speaks and shows the process of baking rye bread, basic for Latvian cuisine; Aglona Beach, a beach by Cirišs Lakes, or the small War Museum of Aglona. Going 10 km south can be found Čertoks Lake, translated as devil's lake becauce, according to locals, a devil lives there and compasses never work.

Where can I eat in Rāzna National Park?

The best choice in this National Park is booking a B&B, with awesome farms and houses, and buying at supermarkets food to eat out.

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