Jekabpils. Merchant Republic in the Baltics

And Daugavpils. The city is located on both sides of the Western Dvina River, which during spring floods causes a lot of trouble for Jekabpils.

In 1237, on the right bank of the Western Dvina (Daugava), the Krustpils Castle was built, the area around which was gradually settled. Krustpils received city status in 1920. On the left bank of the Daugava in the 17th century, a camp of raftsmen and baroque workers was formed. In 1670, he was granted the rights of the city and the name of Jekabsky Posad, Jekabpils. These small towns suffered great destruction during wars and fires.

The new development and formation of the city was facilitated by profitable trade routes passing along the Daugava and built Railway opened in 1861. Gradually, these cities turned into active cultural, commercial and industrial centers. In 1764, a ferry across the Daugava was built, providing a connection between the two cities. In 1936, a bridge was built, which was destroyed during the Second World War. It was rebuilt again in 1962, at the same time these two cities were united, leaving the name Jēkabpils.

Resting at the bases in the city and its environs, you can choose entertainment to your taste: fishing, horseback riding, sports activities, diving, tennis, and everything water activities. In addition, there is a hunting house in Jēkabpils, where hunting enthusiasts will have the opportunity to hunt deer, wild boar, and roe deer.

Krustpils Castle was built in 1237 as a fortification on the way from Riga to Daugavpils. In 1585 the castle passed into perpetual use of the Korf family. Today, the Jekabpils Historical Museum is located here. Various events are also held here, you can take part in a master class on making candles.

There is an open-air museum attached to the castle, where you can get acquainted with typical buildings of the 19th century. So, on the territory of the museum there is a residential building, barns, a bathhouse, as well as a windmill and a smithy.

There are several churches in Jekabpils belonging to different confessions. There are Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran churches, as well as the church of the Old Believers.

The forest park was founded in 1966 to protect the city from the noise and dust of the dolomite quarry. In 1987, the quarry was flooded and a reservoir with 8 islands was formed in its place. The Raju boulder located here is the second largest in Latvia, its height is just over 3 meters, its circumference is 19.5 meters, and its weight is 220 tons.

Recently, the city has changed markedly and is developing rapidly. There will be no problems with choosing a place to stay for the night. You can stay in hotels or guest houses, as well as in campsites, village houses and recreation centers, thus choosing a place to stay according to your taste and budget.

In fact, Jekabpils is two cities in different historical regions and with different histories. The last part was devoted to the riverside Krustpils (Kreutsburg) - the western outpost of Latgale. Now I’ll tell you about Jekabpils itself, or Jakobstadt, one of the most unusual cities in the Baltics. The fact is that Selia, opposite Latgale, mostly assimilated by Lithuania, with the collapse of Livonia, turned out to be the most remote corner of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. But since the Dukes of Kettler tried to build capitalism, which was super-progressive for the 16th and 17th centuries, Celia had to be developed somehow. A good reason was given by the Russian-Polish war, from which many Poles and Litvinians tried to escape in neutral, but at the same time vassal Courland. So in the 1660s, beyond the Dvina, the Helmgolf settlement arose, which was also replenished by Russian Old Believers who fled from the Raskol - here, and not to Latgale occupied by the tsarist troops. And after the end of the war, many remained here - mostly Old Believers and Polish-Lithuanian merchants, who decided that they would be better off in mercantilist Courland than in the Pan-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1670, by decree of Duke Jacob Ketler, the city of Jakobstadt was created, a "merchant republic", where only Poles and Russians (Old Believers and Belarusians) could be burghers, while the Germans themselves received such a right only in 1764.

As for the Selonian Latvians, a small museum of wooden architecture "Courtyard of Villages" is dedicated to them.

Pretty big history Center Jekabpils is formed by two axes - the embankment (to which it is turned mainly by backyards) and the diagonal Brivibas (Freedom) street, converging at the Orthodox Dukhov Monastery (it is on the introductory frame). Where they are separated from each other by one quarter, there is a vast Old Town Square (Vecpilseta) - the center of the left bank. Her appearance is exemplary Latvian - with boulders, multi-colored tiles, sections of cobbles and all sorts of installations. The white building in the background is the former House of the Aizsargs (1935), that is, the National Guard.

In general, the square is very cozy - but there is no ensemble as such, it looks rather loose.

If you stand facing the Daugava, the Spirits Monastery will be on the left, but we will first go to the right. A couple of clearly administrative buildings a block away from the square look at each other:

Nikolskaya church (1807) is modest, but its architecture is already much more typical for Kurzeme, Vidzeme and Zemgale than for Latgale:

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Street perspective. To the left behind the houses is the local "Maxima" - by the way, they are different in Jekabpils and Krustpils.

Ahead is the church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1866), from which it is already a stone's throw to the autoport and the bridge:

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Meanwhile, behind the already mentioned "Maxima" begins a small and neglected park by the standards of the Baltic states (that is, quite average in our opinion), behind which a wooden quarter lurks. In principle, it is within easy reach of the Daugava from here, but there is no passage from the side of the embankment, except from the bridge.

But at this pair of houses you can turn into the street from which this shot was taken:

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And go to the local skansen "Dvor of villages" - quite small (several buildings), but perhaps the first one created in the Soviet Union (1952-57):

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As already mentioned in the post "", the history of German cities and estates and the history of the Latvian village for a long time went albeit synchronously, but in parallel, and began to diverge only in the 19th century. Wooden folk architecture is actually a Latvian story, so the number of skansens per unit area and Latvia will give odds even to Ukraine. I know at least 4 - the huge and old Riga Ethnographic Museum and small skansens in Jurmala, Ventspils and here. The local one is especially interesting precisely because of its specialization in the life of villages, which is almost not represented in Riga.

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The villages, or Selons, are one of the ancient Baltic peoples who inhabited the left bank of the Lake District and by the 15th century completely dissolved among Lithuanians, Semigallians and Latgalians. Lithuanian Selia is the northern tip of Aukstaitija, its capital, whose name is Selonian - in Lithuanian it would be Ezherenay, and it is there, in the village of Stelmuzh, that it is located. Nevertheless, in Lithuania, the villages disappeared without a trace, while in Latvia they remained one of the sub-ethnic groups. Although the Latvian Selia is the most inconspicuous of the historical regions and the poorest in sights, in fact, apart from Jekabpils and a couple of villages, I have never been anywhere.

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The Selonian hut is more similar to Lithuanian ones (see) than to Latvian peasant houses:

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The layout of the house is typical for the Baltics - a canopy in the center of the hut, behind them is an earthen bath that heats the rooms on both sides:

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In the room on the right, the interior of the dwelling is recreated - an earthen floor, a stove (part of the clay "core" of the house), all sorts of chests and spinning wheels, carved chairs:

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The room on the left is more civilized, symbolizes the hut of wealthy peasants and, in combination, serves to show tourists all kinds of folk crafts. How nice these herbs smell!

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Outside there is another bathhouse, traditional for such places a threshing floor with an exposition of carts and equipment, a mill, a smithy...

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And such a thing, quite rare in other places, but very typical for Latvian skansens, as a non-self-propelled harvester of the early twentieth century:

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The thing in the foreground, which looks like either a steam tank from computer games or Stephenson's locomotive, is actually a locomobile, that is, a compressor, and the "muzzle" is a pipe in the folded position. The wooden thing in the background is actually a combine, where grain is loaded manually, but working cattle pulls this whole structure.

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When I came here, a huge group of Dutch people were leaving, who were just being shown how butter is churned and offered to take part in it themselves. Butter churns have not been washed yet:

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Having examined the skansen, I found the museum staff at a meal - they ate cold borscht and butter sandwiches, washed down with herbal tea. I came up to ask a few ethnographic questions, and in the end they sat me down at this table and gave me a couple of sandwiches. The jug turned out to be about half filled with delicious herbal tea ... that is, it’s not tea, of course, but a drink very similar to it from local herbs - in the Baltics such drinks are still popular, and they drink them not as a bitter healing decoction, but as tea with sugar or jam. And it's very tasty.

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From the Court of the Selons to the center, I did not return along Brivibas, but through non-frontal streets to the south (that is, further from the Daugava):

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Seeing this house, I thought - a remake or history, and then I saw the date "1931":

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My main goal was the Old Believer Pokrovskaya Prayer House, located on Viestura Street, already among the Khrushchevs, the oldest in Latvia both by the time of foundation (1660s) and by the time of construction (1862) - they were massively resettled a little later, from the 1680s years, prayer houses were massively built "from scratch" in 1906-40. It is clearly seen here that when this prayer house was being built, the Old Believers were forbidden to give their temples any external features of a religious building - the most ordinary house with a gable roof, over which only after 1906 the domes were built.

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There was, of course, a synagogue in Jakobstadt (1881):

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As, by the way, in Kreuzburg (1890), which I forgot to show in the last part:

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It can be seen that several settlements were in contact near Starogorodskaya Square - Germans and Poles to the east, Old Believers to the south, and Litvins, that is, Belarusians, to the west. Almost on the square itself there is almost the only Greek Catholic church in Latvia (1763-87) with a “chest” composition typical of the Belarusian outback:

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So let's go along Brivibas Street in the other direction. By the way, she herself crosses Jekabpils from edge to edge with a wide parabola, and the monastery looming in the perspective of the Spirits is only at the point of its closest approach to the Daugava. The numbering, by the way, increases from east to west, and the center is in the region of 150-200 houses, while the outermost house on that side has No. 301.

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The section of the street from the square to the monastery has well preserved red-brick buildings. Here in this house in the style of "Latgalian baroque" was my hotel - my room, with a double bed and without amenities, was located in the basement, overlooking the dam. The hotel does not have a reception, a bar in a neighboring house serves these purposes:

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Well, here is the Holy Spirit Monastery, perhaps the main Orthodox monastery in Latvia (at least outside Riga), founded here by "Russians" from the GDL, that is, Belarusians:

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The bell tower and the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit were built in the 1880s:

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But any Belarusian who is familiar with the architecture of his radzima, in this church, cannot but recognize the wooden churches of Vitebsk lost in Soviet times, such as in the Kuta monasteries in (there were two of them nearby - male and female), built in the 17-18 centuries.

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In general, there were many such temples - but not a single one survived the 20th century. And this cathedral partly reproduces their appearance - although not in wood, but in yellow brick:

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The details are very good - be it a frieze, crosses or a wooden porch:

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Nearby is the miniature Nikolskaya Church - the time of its construction is estimated from the 1660s to the 1770s, the view is very archaic:

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The atmosphere inside is exactly the same as in Russian monasteries in the good sense of the word - it’s hard for me to describe it in words only:

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The chapel at the entrance, as the plate on it says, was built in honor of "The Sovereign Emperor Alexander III, patron of the Baltic Orthodox Brotherhood, Empress Maria Feodorovna."

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View outside. And after all, by the standards of Russia, the monastery is really tiny, while in Latvia there is something comparable only in Riga. Still, gigantic monasteries-cities and monasteries-kremlin are a purely Russian feature, well, and partly left-bank Ukrainian.

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Meanwhile, you can walk a little behind the monastery - there is no less than a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only one in Latvia outside of Riga. Through the square with the installation horse:

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Past the Baptist church of the early twentieth century:

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And an impressive wooden house you can go to the Struve Park:

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And in principle, if a UNESCO site comes across in an unexpected place, these are most likely points of the Struve geodetic arc. Undoubtedly the strangest object of the WCS, about the other two points of which - (Ukraine) and (Moldova) I once wrote about. Vasily (at birth Friedrich Georg Wilhelm) Struve was one of the most prominent scientists of the 19th century, in 1818-39 he led the Derpt Observatory (in present-day Tartu), and in 1839 he organized the Pulkovo Observatory near St. Petersburg and became its first director - and in this period, the observatory was the most well-equipped in the world. "Geodesic arc" was created under his leadership in 1816, and consisted of 265 triangulation points from Barents Sea to the Danube Delta, and went something like this:

As you know, the Earth is not a regular ball and even an ellipsoid - and Struve was engaged in determining its exact shape and size, and the material he collected became a breakthrough in world cartography. Field work was completed in 1852, at the same time monuments were erected at many points. Initially, the Arc crossed 3 states, now - 10: Norway (4 points remained), Sweden (4 more), Finland (6), Russia (2 on the island of Gogland in the Gulf of Finland), Estonia (3, including the "headquarters" of the arc in Tartu ), Latvia (2, the second near Ergli), Lithuania (3), Belarus (8), Ukraine (3 in the Khmelnytsky region and 1 in the Odessa region). On some - like the already mentioned Nekrasovka - authentic commemorative signs have been preserved, but mostly Dugi points mark replicas. And frankly, why she got into the UNESCO WCS is a mystery: yes, the study was important, but still, what does it have to do with it? material cultural heritage?

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Authentic here, as I understand it, only a black stone at the bottom. And the triangulation point itself is, of course, a replica:

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From the park, I went to the embankment, passing along the dam past the backyards:

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Past the monastery:

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Admiring the Western Dvina and Krustpils behind it:

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To spend the night in the hotel and in the morning to the bus station in the direction of Riga.

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In the next part - Koknese, the first city of Vidzeme in my story. But I don’t know if it’s now or already in the winter. Big road ahead...

If you want an easy trip, then driving around Latvia is the best thing. And we often. It is surprising that our “Kroods family” has never made it to Latgale, a region of lakes and meadows. And this oversight had to be urgently corrected - last weekend we overcame the route Riga-Jekabpils-Daugavpils-Aglona-Preili.

And this time, the company helps us SIXT- a car and bicycle rental company that kindly agreed to help the site travel around the far and near Baltic world.

At our disposal was a smart Ford Focus 2016, moreover, they gave it to us in ten minutes with all the documents! In order not to return to the topic of transport, I’ll tell you right away: the car is light, fast, drives economically and is absolutely ideal for city driving. There is only one drawback in it - a very compact interior. It’s enough for the three of us, but for a bigger family and a bigger car is better.

The main destination is Daugavpils, which is 230 kilometers from Riga. God knows how far, but a pregnant woman and a small child can make a much shorter route, so it was decided to get there in two stages. On Friday evening, drive to Jekabpils, spend the night, and in the morning rush to Daugavpils. No sooner said than done!

Jekabpils. Ghost town with good taste

You can’t find a dozen offers from hotels and restaurants here - not the scale, so we stopped in the most popular place - Hotel Luze, which is also Hercogs Jēkabs Hotel.

I can say right away that this is not five stars and definitely not Sheraton, but pleasant service, a rather original interior, in which a remake is adjacent to real antiques, and an excellent view of the river from the hotel room - at dawn thick fog creeps along the Daugava and there is amazing silence .

On weekend evenings, it’s noisy around the hotel - a stone’s throw from a nightclub where people come from somewhere, but in the morning - grace.

Jekabpils is a small city, only 23,000 inhabitants, who are also separated by the Daugava. By the way, there used to be two cities here: on one side of the Jakobstadt River, on the other - Kreuzburg. Now this is all Jekabpils and its history is a little less than 780 years old.

In 1919, life was in full swing in Jekabpils - district administrative institutions were transferred here from Jaunjelgava, the food industry and the production of building materials were developed, and in 1932 the largest sugar factory at that time was built.

But as always, “...we are ours, we will build a new world” turned out to be the fact that the city gradually withered away and by that moment had turned almost into a ghost town, where shabby walls are hidden behind cheerful drawings.

In Jekabpils, as befits a provincial town, it is quiet, dead and deserted. For lovers of antiquity, I can recommend going to the territory of Krustpils Castle, but for everyone else - definitely Mans's art gallery- which has no analogues even in Riga.

Canvases of Latvian artists are regularly exhibited here, which come to see or purchase from all over Latvia and Russia. Here is such an element of good taste in the Latvian hinterland.

The gallery is private and does not cooperate with the state - it was a sad experience. Therefore, on the second floor, paintings by artists alternate with souvenir shelves and even stands of cosmetics, branded, by the way - you have to somehow earn money for rent.

But back to beauty. Until the end of May, a personal exhibition of Pēteris Postaž, a 76-year-old artist, professor and teacher at the Latvian Academy of Arts, will be held on the ground floor. Then it will be replaced by another artist.

And on the second floor there is a “hodgepodge” of paintings and works by Latvian craftsmen made of porcelain and clay. I absolutely fell in love with the creations of the artist Zane Luse.

By the way, the gallery is fundamental not only in its work only on a private basis, but also in the selection of collections - only artists with academic education are selected for exhibitions. Amateurs and self-taught people may not even try to claim a “place in the sun” in this gallery.

The city itself is, of course, poor in terms of impressions, so it makes no sense to linger. Moreover, Daugavpils is still one and a half hundred kilometers away, where a rich program is planned, and the weekend, alas, is not rubber!

Useful information for tourists about Jekabpils in Latvia - geographical location, tourist infrastructure, map, architectural features and attractions.

Jekabpils is a Latvian city located approximately in the middle between Riga and Daugavpils. The city is located on both sides of the Western Dvina River, which during spring floods causes a lot of trouble for Jekabpils.

The new development and formation of the city was facilitated by profitable trade routes passing along the Daugava and the built railway, opened in 1861. Gradually, these cities turned into active cultural, commercial and industrial centers. In 1764, a ferry across the Daugava was built, providing a connection between the two cities. In 1936, a bridge was built, which was destroyed during the Second World War. It was rebuilt again in 1962, at the same time these two cities were united, leaving the name Jēkabpils.

Resting at the bases in the city and its environs, you can choose entertainment to your taste: fishing, horseback riding, sports activities, diving, tennis, as well as all water activities. In addition, there is a hunting house in Jēkabpils, where hunting enthusiasts will have the opportunity to hunt deer, wild boar, and roe deer.

There are several churches in Jekabpils belonging to different confessions. There are Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran churches, as well as the church of the Old Believers.

Here is a map of Jekabpils with streets → Latvia. We study detailed map Jēkabpils with house numbers and streets. Real-time search, today's weather, coordinates

More about the streets of Jekabpils on the map

A detailed map of the city of Jekabpils with street names will be able to show all routes and roads, where they are and how to get to Ventas street. Located close to.

For a detailed view of the territory of the entire region, it is enough to change the scale of the online scheme +/-. On the page is an interactive scheme-plan of the city of Jekabpils with a search for the address and routes of the microdistrict. Move its center to find Pasta Street now.

The ability to plot a route across the country and calculate the distance - the "Ruler" tool, find out the length of the city and the path to its center, addresses of attractions, transport stops and hospitals (type of "Hybrid" scheme), see stations and borders.

You will find all the necessary detailed information about the location of the city's infrastructure - stations and shops, squares and banks, highways and routes, how to get there.

The exact satellite map of Jekabpils (Jekabpils) with Google search is in its own rubric, panoramas as well. At the moment, use the Yandex object search bar to show the house number on the folk scheme of the city and region in Latvia / the world, in real time.

All about car tuning

Jekabpils. Merchant Republic in the Baltics

Jekabpils. Ghost town with good taste

More about the streets of Jekabpils on the map