Madona

Madona (Modohn in German, Ма́дона in Russian) is a 8,691 inhabitans city by Madona River in the historical region of Vidzeme in Latvia. The town is a good starting point to enjoy its surrounding nature with hills, forests and lakes.

 

How do I arrive to Madona?

  Madona is a town that isn't very well communicated but it's still accesible. 

• Train: there is only a train per week to Riga (aprox. 2 hours 45 minutes).
• Bus: there are buses to Riga (aprox. 3 hours 15 minutes) and also buses to Sigulda and Cēsis in Gauja National Park, to Rēzekne and to Daugavpils.
• Car: having a car, Madona can be reached on a short journey to Gulbene (aprox. 40 minutes), to Cēsis (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes) in Gauja National Park, to Alūksne (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes), to Rēzekne (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes), Daugavpils (aprox. 2 hours) or to Riga (aprox. 2 hours 10 minutes).
  

History

The surrounding area of Madona had been populated in earlier times but it is first mentioned in writing in 1461 when Riga Archbishop Sylvester began renting the lands of Birži Manor. Later the Swedish government placed the land under state control and after the Great Northern War, Madona became property of the Russian Empire. Empress Elizabeth presented Birži Manor (along with other of Vidzeme's manors) to Count Alexander Buturlin and then Empress Catherine II bought the lands back as a present to another relative of her court, the Serbian major-general Maxim Zorić. From the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century, the location of Madona was the fields of Birži Manor. The railway station situated at the Pļaviņas-Valka narrow gauge railway line was named Madona and the populated place that slowly emerged around the station also got this name after the erection of the Madona railway station in 1903. Madona was given village privileges in 1921 and town privileges in 1926. Since Madona was the center of the newly founded County of Madona.

 

What can I visit in Madona?

Madona doesn't have many things to do but it can be interesting to visit it to know its surrounding nature, among the best ones in Latvia.

These are Madona's main attractions:

• Madona Local History and Art Museum (10-17 Tue and Thu-Fri, 10-18 Wed. 10-16 Sat-Sun; 2.50€/ 1.20€  adults/ retiree and students): museum with one of the most important repositories of cultural values in Vidzeme, whose collection has more than 130 000 objects. The museum is placed at Birži Manor, the manor that was the origin of Madona.
• Mīlestības grava: park with the river Madona flowing with footpaths on its shores and a pond with a fountain.
• Lazdona Lutheran Church: church built back in 1802-1805; it is the oldest unchanged edifice in Madona.
• Lazdona Russian Orthodox Church: church built in the 1860s for the Orthodox community.
  
• Jelgava Lutheran Cathedral: cathedral first built by Duke Gotthard Kettler, considered the oldest in Jelgava. It was burnt down during WW2 but restored afterwards.
• Driving 13 km south the visitor arrives to Krustkalni Nature Reserve (visitations only under guidance booked 1-3 days before), a reserve with an important variety of plants on a landscape with hillocks, marshes, little lakes and huge regions of backwoods with extremely old stands of trees. Close to the nature reserve is located Kalsnava Arboretum (9-18 Tue-Thu, 10-17 Sat, 10-15 Sun from May to Oct; 10-15 Mon-Fri from Nov to Apr; 4€/ 2€  adults/ retiree and students), the largest collection of decorative trees and bushes in eastern part of Latvia.
• Going 16 km north it can be found Cesvaine Palace (10-18 Tue-Sun), eclectic palace built in the 1890s for Adolf von Wulf, considered one of the brightest buildings built in the 19th century in Latvia. It combines architecture, metallurgy, sculpture and painting and is enclosed by a romantic park.

Krustkalni Nature Reserve

Cesvaine Palace

Stāmeriena Castle

Not so far from Madona, going 50 km northeast, there's Gulbene (Schwanenburg in German), a 7,199 inhabitants town. But before arriving to it, the visitor can stop at Tirza Ski Museum, a museum with an exhibition of ski equipment of the past and that additionally provides equipment for active recreation, and a church from 1826, Tirza Lutheran Church. In Gulbene there are some things to do here like visiting Gulbene History and Art Museum (10-17 Tue-Fri, 10-14 Sat-Sun from May to Sep; 1.20€/ 0.60€  adults/ students), a small museum that shows the history of Gulbene and that has a valuable relics, a chair designed by Julius Madernieks (founder of Latvian professional applied art). Outsidet Gulbene, in the parish of Vecstameriena, it can be found Stāmeriena Castle (10-17 Tue-Fri and Sun, 10-20 Sat; 3€/ 2€  adults/ retiree and students), a castle built in the 1820s and rebuilt in 1835, being an important rebel center during the Revolution of 1905 and rebuilt with traces of Neoclassicism and Art Nouveau, and the beautiful St. Ņevas Aleksandra Orthodox Church, church built in the early 20th century.

Alūksne Castle Ruins and Lake Alūksne

Continuing 45 km north, not far with the border with Estonia, there's the town of Alūksne (Marienburg in German,Aluliinain Estonian) with 6,692 inhabitants on the shores of Lake Alūksne. In the town it can be visited Alūksne Castle Ruins, remains of the castle built by the Livonian Order that was destroyed in the Great Northern War, and Tempļa kalns Park, a park by the lake where there used to be an ancient Latgalian castle mound and bridge. The town has another castle too, Alūksne New Castle, a Neo-Gothic building from the 1860s that hosts Alūksne Museum (10-17 Tue-Sat, 10-16 Sun from Jun to Aug; 10-17 Tue-Sat from Sep to May; 6€/ 2€  adults/ retiree and students), a museum that speaks about the history of the town. The town has a beautiful church, Alūksne Lutheran Church, and next to it Ernst Glück Bible Museum (10-17 Tue-Sat from Jul to Aug), a museum place that Johann Ernst Glück famously translated the Holy Bible into the Latvian language.

Where can I eat in Madona?

Madona doesn't have many places where eating but some of the best choices are the cafe Parka kefejnīca (Gaujas iela 33) or the Latvia restaurant Rudzons (Saules iela 15).

Posted in: Europe,Latvia