The best sights of Daugavpils with photos and descriptions. Rest in Daugavpils Daugavpils where
Daugavpils (previously Dvinsk, Dinaburg (before 1893), Borisoglebov, according to Russian chronicles Nevgin - a city of republican subordination in Latvia, the second largest and most important city in the country after the capital. Located on the Daugava River (Western Dvina), near the borders of Lithuania (25 km) and Belarus (33 km).
Story
As part of Livonia
Old Dinaburg (now Vecpils, Naujene parish) was founded by knights-swordsmen on the banks of the Dvina River, 19 km upstream from the present city. The castle was first mentioned in historical sources in 1275. In 1275, the Master of the Livonian Order, Baron Ernst von Ratzeburg (Est.)russian set up a stone castle Dinaburg, which became the center of the komturia.
Soon after the founding of the new castle, the Lithuanian prince Troyden besieged it for several weeks. A few years later, the assault by Troyden's successor, Prince Witen, was more successful and the castle was destroyed for the first time. In 1313 the master of the order Gerd von York rebuilt Dinaburg, and in 1347 the master Goswin von Guericke added four more towers. In 1481 the castle was taken by the troops of Ivan III; the troops were later withdrawn.
As part of the Commonwealth
In 1558 the Livonian War began. In 1559, Dinaburg was ceded by the Livonians to the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Sigismund II Augustus. According to the agreement between Sigismund II and the Landmaster of the Teutonic Order in Livonia, Gotthard Kettler, concluded in 1561, Dinaburg became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1569, Duke Gotthard Kettler finally abandoned the castle in favor of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
During the Livonian War in July 1577, the castle was taken by the troops of Ivan the Terrible, who ordered to build a trench 19 km from the destroyed Livonian castle - at the mouth of the Shunitsa river opposite the village of Jerusalem. However, in 1578, Ivan the Terrible was forced to abandon the Livonian region, returning it to the Commonwealth.
During the war for the Swedish throne between King Sigismund and Duke Karl Södermanland, as well as under Gustav II Adolf, the Swedes took Dinaburg twice, but each time returned it to Poland.
As a result of the Keidan Union in 1655, the city was occupied by the Swedes. However, a year later, during the Russian-Swedish war of 1656-58, Dinaburg was besieged and taken by the army of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who renamed the city Borisoglebs. In 1666, during the Russian-Polish war near Borisoglebov, the Polish offensive was repulsed, but as a result of the Andrusov armistice, the city again became part of the Commonwealth.
As part of the Russian Empire
According to the results of the first partition of the Rzecz Pospolita, Dinaburg was included in 1772 into the Pskov province of the Russian Empire, since 1802 it was the county town of the Vitebsk province. In 1810-1878, the modern Dinaburg fortress was built in the city for those times.
Since the second half of the 19th century, the city has been one of the shopping centers of Western Russia.
The city acquired a new significance with the construction of sections of the St. Petersburg - Warsaw railway in 1860-1862, lines from Riga (1861), Vitebsk (1866) and Radzivilishkov (1873) (for more details, see Daugavpils railway junction). From the middle of the 19th century, the rapid development of industry began (see the Industrial Revolution in Russia).
In 1897 the population of the city was 69,675 people, including Jews - 32,064, Russians - 19,153, Poles - 11,420, Germans - 3,126, Belarusians - 1,525, Latvians - 1,274.
During the First World War and the Civil War
During the First World War, most of the industry was evacuated to the interior regions of Russia. The front approached the city in the fall of 1915, when, during the Sventsiansk breakthrough, German troops were able to move towards Dvina and Dvinsk. The capture of Dvinsk, as an important strategic point, opened the way to the capital of the country, Petrograd.
Positional battles were fought around the city, in 1917, after the February Revolution, fraternization at the front began, by the fall of 1917 the front was disintegrated, the Dvintsy appeared, and the Bolsheviks' influence in the troops increased.
After the October Revolution and the armistice at the front (Decree on Peace) in November, a plenipotentiary delegation of the Council of People's Commissars proceeded through Dvinsk from Petrograd to Brest-Litovsk to conduct peace negotiations with Germany. On December 31, 1917, by the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the Dvinsky district of the Vitebsk province was transferred to Soviet Latvia (the Republic of Iskolata). On February 18, 1918, the city was occupied by German troops.
After the November Revolution in Germany on December 9, 1918, German troops left Dvinsk without a fight in favor of the Red Army. Dvinsk became a part of the Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic, proclaimed on December 17, 1918.
During the Soviet-Polish war during the battles for Dvinsk on January 3, 1920, the city was occupied by Polish troops under the command of General Rydz-Smigla. According to the Riga Peace Treaty with Soviet Russia of August 11, 1920, the city and county were assigned to independent Latvia, and in the same year the city was renamed Daugavpils (“city on the Daugava”).
As part of the 1st Republic of Latvia
House of Unity
In 1935, the first steel bridge in the Baltics was opened - the Unity Bridge connecting Daugavpils with Griva.
At the beginning of December 1939, the personnel of the evacuated Finnish Embassy in Moscow went through the city by rail to Germany, due to the outbreak of the 1939-1940 war. The Finnish Ambassador spent several days in one of the city's hotels.
During the Second World War
With the outbreak of the war between Germany and Poland on September 1, 1939, units of the Polish army crossed over to the territory of Latvia in the Daugavpils region, and a camp for Polish internment was set up in the fortress in autumn.
On June 26, 1941, the city was occupied by German troops. Mass executions took place in the Poguliansky forest. Behind the northern rampart of the fortress there was a camp for Soviet prisoners of war "Stalag-340" (Stalag 340).
In August-October 1944, after the liberation of the city on July 27 from German troops, the city played the role of the capital of the Latvian SSR.
During World War II, more than 165 thousand people were killed on the territory of the city, and the city was destroyed by more than 70%.
As part of the USSR
On November 5, 1946, the tram was launched. During the period from April 8, 1952 to April 25, 1953, the city was the regional center of the Daugavpils region of the Latvian SSR. On May 30, 1953, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR, the city of Griva was annexed to the city of Daugavpils.
In 1957, the 180-meter high Daugavpils TV tower was put into operation. In the 1980s, another 24 meters were added with the help of a helicopter, now its height is 204 meters. In 1959, the All-Union Population Census of the USSR noted 65.5 thousand people in the city. New residential areas were built, the Daugavpils drive chain plant, a chemical fiber plant, a car repair plant, a furniture factory, Latremstanok and other enterprises, for example, a meat processing plant, a cannery.
In 1970, the All-Union Population Census of the USSR recorded 100.6 thousand people in the city. In the post-war period, the city was included in the NATO list of one hundred objects subject to nuclear bombing in terms of its importance and military-strategic position, since the city had an important railway junction, military warehouses, a military school, a military airfield (now Daugavpils international airport).
In 1979, the construction of the Daugavpils hydroelectric power station in the Rugeli region began, the construction was stopped in 1987. In 1989, a new flooring of the Unity Bridge was installed on the old bulls. In 1989, the All-Union Population Census of the USSR recorded 126.7 thousand people in the city. As of January 1, 1992, 127 619 people lived in the city, then the population began to decline (number as of January 1): 1995: 120 897; 2000: 115,574; 2005: 107,269; 2010: 95,962; 2015: 86 435 people.
Modernity
Daugavpils today is a modern and developing city in Latvia, which is one of the most important cultural centers in the country. Daugavpils is known for the largest fortification in the Baltics - the Daugavpils Fortress, as well as for its famous native, abstract artist Mark Rothko. Daugavpils is an important transport hub between Russia and the European Union. The city has a railway and bus station, in Lociki, near the city, a former Soviet military airfield is being restored, which will be transformed into an airport of national importance.
Daugavpils University
In Daugavpils, there are both public and private universities, a theater where performances are held in Russian and Latvian, a local history and art museum. The main attraction of the city is the well-preserved Daugavpils fortress of the beginning of the 19th century, built under the leadership of engineer-major-general EF Gekel.
For spending free time in Daugavpils there is an Ice Palace, a bowling center in the Orange Bowling youth entertainment center in the Ditton Nams shopping center, as well as the Daugavpils Museum, exhibition spaces, many restaurants, cafes and bars. In summer, the Stropu recreation center “Stropu Vilnis”, located by the Stropsky lake, is open. In 2008, the construction of the Daugavpils multifunctional sports complex began, which was put into operation on October 29, 2009.
In winter, there is an opportunity to visit the Eglukalns ski recreation complex, located near Daugavpils. Since September 11, 2009, a six-screen "Silver Screen" cinema with 1200 seats, which is currently the only cinema in Eastern Europe with the technology of showing films in Sony CineAlta 4K and RealD 3D, is available for visiting in the city. The cinema is located in the Ditton Nams shopping center. The restoration of the architectural dominant of the city - the Daugavpils fortress - is underway. In September 2010, the restoration of one of the most significant buildings in the city, the House of Unity, was completed.
In the near future, it is planned to start construction of the first solar power plant in the Baltics in Daugavpils.
On June 4-6, 2010 Daugavpils celebrated its 735th anniversary. The jubilee was marked by a song festival, which was attended by over 3,000 participants from all over Latvia. Among the honored guests of the holiday were the President of the country Valdis Zatlers, the Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis and the outstanding Latvian composer Raimonds Pauls.
In 2010, the Daugavpils Fortress celebrated its 200th anniversary since the beginning of its construction.
There are two correctional institutions in the city, located on different banks of the Daugava. One of them is the largest in Latvia. Daugavpils prison, known as "White Swan", was built in 1863 on the outskirts of the city. At the present time it is located near the modern center.
If I examined the rest of Latvia in July, having arrived there by train, Latgale - in May and by car. And it should be noted that this was a typical case of how one can spoil the impression of a country by grabbing onto it "from the wrong end." The first Latvian city that I visited was Daugavpils (101 thousand inhabitants) - the second largest in Latvia, but most of all similar to our cities of "105th kilometer". Daugavpils is a rare example of a city that I frankly did not like, a nasty caricature of Russia for Europeans and of the Baltic states for Russians.
Nevertheless, its history is rich and there is something to see. I will tell you about Daugavpils in three parts - the center, factory suburbs and the huge Dinaburg fortress.
Depils (as it is popularly called) is 230 kilometers away from Riga: by local standards, it is almost the Far East. Daugava is the Latvian name for Dvina, "pils" means "castle" or "city", therefore all variants of its name - Daugavpils, Dvinsk, Dinaburg - actually mean the same thing: "city on the Western Dvina". Its history began with the Teutonic castle, founded in 1275 by Landmaster Ernst Ratzenburg as the seat of the commander. In the following centuries it was besieged and even captured by Lithuanians, Swedes, Ivan III (1481) and Ivan the Terrible, and finally in 1577-78 neither the governor of the latter, nor Stephen Bathory, who conquered Latgale, considered the rebuilding of the castle inappropriate. New Dinaburg was founded 19 kilometers down the Dvina, and in 1581 received the Magdeburg Law. The Russians returned here in 1656 (when Latgale had been held by the Swedes for a year already), and with the obvious expectation that it would be for a long time - they even managed to rename Dinaburg to Borisoglebsk, but in 1666, according to the terms of the Andrusov Peace, they returned the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - but not do it then, now hardly anyone would have remembered about its non-Russian past ... According to Section I (1772) Latgale became part of Russia, initially (1772-1802) into the Pskov province, and from the 19th century - into Vitebsk. At the same time, Dinaburg was again moved five kilometers higher - on the site of the Old City in 1810, the construction of a fortress began, but in its present form, Daugavpils was created, of course, by a railway:
One of the first railway junction in the empire was formed in 1860-73, and has 6 directions, in plan resembling a cross with two crossbeams: the Petersburg-Warsaw railway crossed the Rigo-Orlovskaya and Libavo-Romenskaya on different banks of the Dvina. What did this mean in those days? Of course, explosive growth - at the beginning of the 20th century, the district Dvinsk (this name became official in 1893), the provincial Vitebsk and later the capital Minsk were approximately equal in population (100-110 thousand people), and then the main population was Jews. (46%), Russians (30%) and Poles (16%). After the fierce battles of the First World War and the collapse of the Russian Empire, about 20 thousand inhabitants remained here, by 1941 the city had grown to 59 thousand, and then it was again devastated - and not in 1941 (when the Germans occupied it on the 3rd day of the war, and the Red Army did not even have time to blow up bridges), and in 1943-44 - by air raids and battles for liberation. However, the industrial city was needed by the Soviet Union, Daugavpils was rebuilt rather quickly, while populating it with workers from all over the Union, and it reached its peak by the end of the 1980s - 127 thousand people lived here, almost a third more than now ..
3. Zavokzalnaya part of the city - the New Building area formed at the beginning of the twentieth century. The tower on the left is a shot foundry, an interesting industrial monument. 
The current Daugavpils is a really depressing sight. The city seemed to have gone into a binge, time stopped here in the mid-1990s - at least this is how I remember my childhood Perm. Drunken laborers, Gopnik like niggas from the movie "Brother 2", some murky identity in the doorways, sweatshirts, shaved heads, even mat on the threshold of the church, indifferent malevolence of opinion - all these impressions I have already stated in the. The situation is supplemented by the ethnic composition: there are only 19% of Latvians, another 14% are Poles, 7% are Belarusians, and 55% are Russians, which of course pleases nationalists from Estonia to Ukraine very much. But the fact of the matter is that a normal one-hundred-thousand-man in Russia, even the deadliest, is, if not nicer, then more alive in terms of its contingent.
4.
The contrast with neighboring Lithuania was especially great. Going here, you need to tune in not to the Baltics, but to places like the Donbass or the Urals, that is, to be mentally prepared for possible aggression against yourself and not provoke it with things like photographing passers-by. However, here the gopota is also peculiar - sad, shabby and inclined to disgusting rudeness more than to real scuffle.
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In general, may the locals forgive me (among whom, of course, there are many adequate and intelligent people who love their city and realize its decline with sincere pain), but this is my impression. One, however, a positive moment after Lithuania, I immediately noted here - in Daugavpils there is a tram opened in 1946 - I already wrote about it (including cars with "trolleybus" horns) in.
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All the frames above were filmed in the vicinity of the station. It should be noted that before the war, the railway junction here was even more complicated than now - there were as many as two passenger stations in the city. Petersburg State Railway Station was located outside the city, where the station is now Daugavpils-Sortirovochny, and was one of the largest in the empire for its time (1858-60):
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Rizhsky railway station closer to the center was the end point of the private Rigo-Dinaburg railway (1861):
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Both of them were destroyed by the war, and they did not restore St. Petersburg, and instead of Riga they built a "tattered stalin", a large, but completely ugly station. Now it is quiet here - only one long-distance train St. Petersburg-Vilnius and several diesel engines to Riga pass it. We chose the station as a starting point, hoping that there would be an exchange office, but (it was on Sunday) the station employees advised us to go to the bazaar and exchange litas for lats (sounds like "an awl for soap"!) From hands - an unheard-of thing for the Baltics.
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Nearby is a monument to the Dvintsy - the Bolshevik soldiers, who in the summer of 1917 declared disobedience, who began fraternizing with the Germans and demanding "all power to the Soviets!" Soon they (about 800 people) were tied up by the Cossacks and sent to Moscow in Butyrka, which was a strategic mistake - in October the Dvintsy became the shock force of the red uprising, seven of them rest at the Kremlin wall.
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My harsh statements about Daugavpils related primarily to its contingent and to the appearance of the suburbs. the center is quite well-groomed, especially the pedestrian Rizhskaya street, which starts right from the station facade:
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Typical Latvian contrasts. From neglected courtyards:
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Before the cute installations ... in the background is the very bazaar:
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The center in Daugavpils is clearly delineated and represents a historically formed area, which is usually classified as a New Town: Old Dinaburg was almost completely demolished in 1810 during the construction of the fortress - a similar story was in Bobruisk and Brest. The new city was built at some distance from the fortress and according to a regular plan (1826) with a rectangular grid of long streets. He preserved the pre-revolutionary buildings much better than Vitebsk and Minsk, equal to him at that time, and Rizhskaya forms the western border of this whole area:
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16a. 
About halfway to the Daugava is the oldest surviving temple in the city, the Church of St. Peter in chains (1845-48). Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Old Believers (about which later) in Daugavpils are roughly equivalent, and noticeably prevail over Lutheranism: after all, even the local Latvians are primarily Catholic Latgalians.
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Another block (on the other side, beyond the edge of the frame, there is a multi-storey hotel and a shopping center, on the first floor of which we changed the currency):
18.
And you go out to the main square in the city of Unity (Vienibas), before the Alexandrovskaya revolution. As you can see, in terms of landscaping, everything is not hopeless - both the figured tile (and in Latvia they put it, to put it mildly, not like ours), and the floral coat of arms:
19.
And dominates the square (in addition to the already mentioned hotel) of the totalitarian appearance of the House of Unity (1935-37) of Ulmanis's time. The concept in this was: the House united a theater, a concert hall, a museum, a hotel, a department store, a library, a bookstore, a swimming pool, a bank, a tourist center - not all at the same time, but at least a few of the listed objects were constantly in it. Therefore, when viewed from different sides, it makes a completely different impression - on the right is clearly a department store or a household, on the left is a hotel or a bank ...
20.
And from the facade is the classic House of Culture. This is the largest monument of the 1st Republic of Latvia outside Riga and Jurmala and almost the only building of those times in Daugavpils. However, of course - if at the beginning of the First Republic the city was 5 times smaller than the pre-revolutionary one, and at the end - twice, then there was nothing to fill the old houses with.
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The Unity House was built on the site of the shopping arcade, and the Andrei Pumpur Square (the creator of Lachplesis), the former Alexander Garden, located behind it, was expanded by the order of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (1859-66), demolished in 1969, uncommon, albeit quite cumbersome version of "clone XXC":
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There is no talk about the reconstruction of the cathedral, and the newly-made church of Alexander Nevsky, for me, is so much more elegant than its predecessor:
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Behind the square there is a group of buildings of the Petersburg-Warsaw road station (1820-26), with their architecture suspiciously reminiscent of the buildings of the Dinaburg fortress - possibly built by the same architects.
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On the other hand, closer to Dvina, there is a typical post-war regional committee. In fact, the regional committee was: in 1952-53 in the Baltic SSRs they decided to introduce regional division: in Lithuania they created the Vilnius, Kaunas, Siauliai and Klaipeda regions, in Latvia - Riga, Daugavpils and Liepaja, in Estonia (!) - Tallinn, Tartus and Pärnusskaya, and at an accelerated pace they began to build administrative buildings. Then the idea was considered inexpedient, and the regional committees (everything will come in handy on the farm!), As they were put into operation, were given to universities. Similar monuments have survived at least in Liepaja.
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Although there are many post-war "patches", the characteristic gloomy gamut of which was noted by Darriuss (whose story is much more detailed than mine):
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There is also its own architectural "feature" - Latgalian baroque. Rather, neo-baroque - a brick style with a characteristic decor:
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Among the examples of which there were also synagogues:
33a. 
As you might guess, Dvinsk was part of the "Pale of Settlement" and as the largest uyezd town in it, it had perhaps the largest Jewish community in the Belarusian provinces (about half of the population). This is the origin of the American artist Mark Rothko and Abraham Yitzhak Cook, the first chief rabbi of Israel. I will tell you more about the place where the Dvina Jews perished in the following parts. The Choral Synagogue has not survived either:
33b. 
But two synagogues still stand at the corner of Tsietokshnya (Krepostnaya Street, leads to the fortress in a straight line) and Lachplesis - one former:
34.
Another, built in 1850 as a prayer house "Kadish" ("Memorial"), was restored, including with donations from the relatives of Mark Rothko. It is significant that the vicinity of the synagogues is the most well-groomed place in the center of Daugavpils:
35.
But let's return to Unity Square - on the lower side along Rizhskaya, a fire station is adjacent to it:
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And behind it, up to the Daugava, is a long square with a fountain, a monument to the mayor (1876-90) Pavel Dubrovin and a military memorial "Victory Day":
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The most memorable House with Eagles in the city center (1883), since 1959, the Museum of Local Lore (founded, in turn, in 1938 at the House of Unity), looks at it:
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The center is separated from the Dvina by a high dam (1833-41) - it turned out that the place for the new city periodically floods, and this problem had to be somehow solved. The dam is raised approximately to the level of the second floor, the busy Daugavas street passes along it, and since the car park here is mainly represented by used ears, there is really nothing to breathe under the dam.
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The Daugava is wide and severe:
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On the other side is the Griva suburb, where the Unity Bridge leads (1935, the canvas was replaced in the 1980s). The fact is that Latgale was not in vain correlated under the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the Duchy of Zadvinsky - the entire ex-Livonian left bank became part of the independent Duchy of Courland, and its eastern third is the historical region Celia (to which, by the way, in ancient times Zarasai belonged, even the name its Selonian), so the bridge really connected Latgale and Kurzeme.
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We went east along the dam and along it. The City Council in the building of the former Divisional Assembly (1889) is perhaps the brightest example of "Latgalian Baroque".
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Ahead you can see a sharp turn of the dam, behind which the CHP pipe looms:
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Center boundary - the dam runs perpendicular to the coast until the natural relief rise. From its outside there is a factory suburb of Gayok, but so far - views only "inward":
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About Nut, Mane and New Building - in the next part.
Alexander Nevsky Church is an Orthodox church in the name of Prince Alexander Nevsky. This wooden temple is located in the city of Daugavpils in Latvia. It is located in the old cemetery near the Dinaburg fortress.
The church was built in 1897 without nails, in a style typical for northern Russia. And consecrated in August 1897. The building is decorated with wooden carvings.
The soldiers damaged the church, but it has survived to this day. Protected as a monument of wooden architecture. In 1991, a cross was installed over the church. For a long time, the temple was without a priest, only occasionally services were held by the priests of the Borisoglebsk Cathedral.
In 2002, priest Vladimir was blessed to serve this church.
Daugavpils International Airport
Daugavpils International Airport is located 12 km north-east of the center of Daugavpils in the village of Lotsiki. At the moment, its technical infrastructure consists of buildings left over from a former Soviet air force base and an airstrip. At the end of the 90s, passenger planes took off from here for some time and flights to Copenhagen, Riga and Liepaja operated. After some time, the airfield was closed, and its building was used as a cafe. Nowadays, all airport facilities (except for the weather station) are inoperative, most of them are destroyed.
Since 2005, the airport development project has been looking for potential investors. Its purpose is to organize the acceptance of both regional and international flights, including charter and cargo. In our time, work is underway here to restore the former military airfield, which includes the main runway 2500 meters long and 46 meters wide.
The restoration of the international airport will be a great contribution to the development of the economy, transport infrastructure and culture, and will also attract new investments not only in Daugavpils, but in the entire region.
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Daugavpils prison
Daugavpils Prison ("White Swan") is located in Latvia in the central part of the city of Daugavpils, in the Gaek region. It is an architectural monument of local importance.
The prison was built in 1863. Initially, the facade of the building was red, and it was called the "Red House". Now the prison is white, fenced with high walls with towers at each corner. The building has a swan-shaped weather vane. This is where the current name comes from.
"White Swan" is the only prison in Latvia where there are no sentries on the watchtowers. Surveillance is carried out using electronic equipment, as well as armed guards.
In 2008, the prison was merged with the Griva prison, which is also located in Daugavpils. The association was named Daugavgrivas.
Vienibas Square (or Unity Square) is located in the center of the second largest and most important city in Latvia - Daugavpils. Nearby is the House of Unity and the hotel "Latvia".
Throughout its history, Unity Square has gone through many changes, it has been renamed, reconstructed and even moved to another place. The former location of the square is today the House of Unity. Part of the area is occupied by plantings of blue spruces. Every year, the townspeople come to the square to see the main city Christmas tree, which is installed here. The square is the venue for concerts, fairs and parades.
Local rumors are very popular that there are underground passages to the fortress under the square. Despite the fact that no passages were found either during the construction of the House of Unity, or during the excavation of the foundation, the legend lives on.
The most popular attractions in Daugavpils with descriptions and photos for every taste. Choose the best places to visit famous places in Daugavpils on our website.
The main pearl of Daugavpils is its fortress, which today is the largest in all of Europe. This architectural structure was built at the beginning of the 19th century to fortify the borders of the Russian Empire and in its lifetime has seen and survived many wars and military battles.
All buildings in the historical center of the city are referred to as "Latgale Baroque" - the buildings are distinguished by their original shape and red brick facades with various elements of decoration. For example, the building of the city local history museum with an openwork pattern on the arch of the front doors, which was built in the 2nd half of the 19th century using multi-colored tiles. In the center, you can also see the Jaunbūve church ensemble on Cerchovny Hill, consisting of an Orthodox cathedral, a Lutheran church and a Catholic church (all buildings of the late 19th - early 20th centuries). The central street of Daugavpils is Rigas, along which there are 80 architectural monuments. In the 80s of the last century, it became the first pedestrian street in Latvia. In the middle of the 20th century, the House of Unity was built between Rigas and Saules streets, which today houses a library, theater, shops, cafes, and a bank. All major city events take place here.
For detailed information “what to see and where to go”, as well as about all events and performances in the city, go to the Daugavpils Tourist Information Center: Rigas Street, 22a.
At the end of the 19th century, the head of the city, Pavel Dubrovin, created a 3-hectare park in the center of the Daugavpils - today this park bears the name of its founder and is a favorite resting place for all citizens. In the northeastern part of the city, Stropi, in the area of \u200b\u200bLake Lielais Stropu is a popular recreational area. Daugavpils is also proud of its sports complex with the Ice Palace and the largest open-air pool in the Baltic states.
On the way from the Daugavpil to Kraslava on the picturesque banks of the Daugava River the Daugavas loki national park is located. On its territory, a model of the Dinaburg fortress of the 13th century was built, which marked the beginning of the history of the city. Also not far from the Daugavpils, in the town of Pilskalne, there is a forest landscape park Pilskalnes of Siguldina with educational trails and themed wooden figures.
In general, Daugavpils, like no other Latvian city, is surrounded by water and forest resources: 15 lakes, 8 rivers, countless streams and 10,000 hectares of forests and parks.
How to get there
4 trains run from Riga to Daugavpils every day (4 hours on the way) and 8 buses (every 2 hours, 3 hours 30 minutes on the way; www.autoosta.lv). You can also get there by bus from Rezekne (every 7 hours, 2 hours on the way) and Aglona (3 flights daily, 1 hour 30 minutes). Route schedule from Daugavpils can be viewed on the official website www.buspark.lv. Trains also run from Gomel, St. Petersburg and Vilnius (3 trains daily, 3 hours on the way).
The nearest airport is in Riga, but the Latvian authorities promise to soon open air traffic in Daugavpils itself.
The road from Riga by car will take about 3 hours. There is also an international highway E262 going from Lithuania (Kaunas) to Russia.
Story
The origins of Daugavpils are connected with the trade route, which during the time of feudalism was one of the largest thoroughfares in Eastern Europe. It is mentioned in the Scandinavian sagas of the 5th century, when the inhabitants of Gotland traveled along the Daugava to Russia and further to Greece. The ancient settlement of the Daugavpils region is evidenced by finds of Roman coins of the 1st century. BC e. - IV century. n. e. on the right bank of the Daugava near Daugavpils.
Daugavpils was first mentioned in sources in 1275, when the Livonian Order, by order of the Order Master Ernst von Ratzeburg, began to build a stone castle - Dinaburg on the site of the Latgale wooden castle in Vecpils. The territory of the castle covered the Rezekne, Ludza, Liksna and Ilukste districts. A settlement was formed near the castle, which in the XIII - XIV centuries. was of great commercial importance.
At the beginning of the XV century. Dinaburg was twice conquered by the Lithuanians, in 1481 it was defeated by the army of Tsar Ivan III, but the castle was restored every time. The Livonian War undermined the position of the Livonian Order, and together with a number of other castles, the Order in 1559 gave the fortress as a pledge to the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus. In 1566, after the liquidation of the Livonian Order, when the territory of present-day Latgale and Vidzeme was included in the Principality of Lithuania, Dinaburg became the center of one of the voivodships and acquired its own coat of arms.
In 1577, the army of Ivan the Terrible completely destroyed Dinaburg. The border point, where the interests of Russia and Poland came into contact and which the Swedes sometimes reached, could not remain unfortified, so Ivan the Terrible began building a new fortress. The fortress, erected by the warriors of the Russian tsar on the shores of Shunyup, like the rest of Latgale, after the Livonian War, went to Poland. In 1582, the Polish king Stefan Bathory granted Dinaburg the “Magdeburg Law”, opening the way for the city to wider development.
Significant changes in the development of the city took place with the establishment of Jesuit missionaries here. It becomes the center of the Latgale Christian mission. A wooden church and a two-storey monastery have grown up among the wooden houses of the townspeople. In 1625 the Jesuits opened the first school in Latgale. After the signing of the Altmark Peace Treaty, Dinaburg also became the administrative center of Latgale.
By the decision of the Polish Seim in 1647, Dinaburg became a place for transshipment of grain and other goods. In 1656, battles between Russia and Sweden took place on the Daugava. On the day of Saints Boris and Gleb, the Russians captured Dinaburg, and Tsar Alexei. Mikhailovich renamed the city Borisoglebsk. Work began to restore the fortress, the wooden church of Boris and Gleb was erected, but already in 1667 Dinaburg was given to Poland and transformed into the administrative center of Latgale and the bishop's residence.
As a result of the active work of the Jesuits, a cathedral and a school of Catholic clergy appeared, and the Polish gentry moved here. In 1772, after the first partition of Poland, Dinaburg was annexed to Russia and became a district town in the Polotsk province. Then he was included in the Vitebsk province. In 1810, with the aggravation of Russian-French relations, it was decided to rebuild the small Dinaburg fortress into a first-class fortress with a defensive belt.
The land was purchased from the Jesuits and townspeople, and construction began under the leadership of engineer-colonel E. Gekel. Before Napoleon's invasion, only temporary fortifications were completed. In 1812, after repelling the advance of the French, the Russian army left the fortress. The French burned down timber buildings and destroyed stone fortifications. The construction of the fortress was resumed in 1813 and continued until 1878. The fortress lost its strategic importance and later served as a warehouse for weapons and food supplies and a prison.
In the 1830s. XIX century. The Big Vorstadt, the current center of the city, began to take shape. The architect A. Staubert, who worked on the construction of the fortress ensemble, also designed the administrative buildings of the new county government. To protect the city from spring floods, an 8-kilometer dam (completed in 1841) was built according to the project of engineer Melnikov. This architectural ensemble is now the most popular among tourists visiting this city. Significant changes in the economic life of the city were made by the railway connection: in 1860 the Petersburg - Warsaw line connected Dinaburg with Petersburg, and in 1862 - with Warsaw and Riga. The opening of locomotive repair shops in 1866 became natural. In 1893, by the decree of the Russian Emperor Alexander III, Dinaburg was renamed Dvinsk.
The economic growth of the city was interrupted by the First World War. Part of industrial enterprises together with workers were evacuated to Russia. In February 1918, German troops entered Dvinsk, and in 1919 it passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks without fighting. Polish troops, together with detachments of the Latvian army, liberated the city on January 3, 1920. The city acquired a new name - Daugavpils. On June 17, 1940, Soviet tanks entered the city. In 1941, the Soviet occupation was replaced by the German one. In the fort of the bridgehead, a Jewish ghetto was set up, behind the northern rampart of the fortress there was a camp for Russian prisoners of war, Stalag 340 (Stalag). During the years of World War II, 2/3 of the city buildings were destroyed in bombing and fires: Gayok and the city center were completely destroyed, most of the New Building burned down. On July 27, 1944, Red Army units entered Daugavpils. The second Soviet occupation lasted until 1991, when the Atmoda people's movement raised red-white-red flags in Daugavpils.
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The second largest Latvian city Daugavpils has been renamed four times in its history. And although its history originally originated from the Dinaburg Fortress, which belonged to the Livonian Order, later the city passed "from hand to hand" now by the Lithuanians, now the Poles, now the Ross. The fusion of stories, cultures and destinies has generated a special atmosphere and charm in the modern city of Latgale region.
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How to get there
Daily from Riga to Daugavpils there are 4 trains (4 hours on the way) and 8 buses (every 2 hours, 3 hours 30 minutes on the way; www.autoosta.lv). You can also get there by bus from Rezekne (every 7 hours, 2 hours on the way) and Aglona (3 flights daily, 1 hour 30 minutes). Route schedule from Daugavpils can be viewed on the official website www.buspark.lv. Trains also run from Gomel, St. Petersburg and Vilnius (3 trains daily, 3 hours on the way).
The nearest airport is in Riga, but the Latvian authorities promise to soon open air traffic in Daugavpils itself.
The road from Riga by car will take about 3 hours. There is also an international highway E262 going from Lithuania (Kaunas) to Russia.
Popular hotels in Daugavpils
Entertainment and attractions of Daugavpils
The main pearl of Daugavpils is its fortress, which today is the largest in all of Europe. This architectural structure was built at the beginning of the 19th century to fortify the borders of the Russian Empire and in its lifetime has seen and survived many wars and military battles.
All buildings in the historical center of the city are referred to as "Latgale Baroque" - the buildings are distinguished by their original form and red brick facades with various elements of decoration. For example, the building of the city local history museum with an openwork pattern on the arch of the front doors, which was built in the 2nd half of the 19th century using multi-colored tiles. In the center, you can also see the Jaunbūve church ensemble on Cerchovny Hill, consisting of an Orthodox cathedral, a Lutheran church and a Catholic church (all buildings of the late 19th - early 20th centuries). The central street of Daugavpils is Rigas, along which there are 80 architectural monuments. In the 80s of the last century, it became the first pedestrian street in Latvia. In the middle of the 20th century, the House of Unity was built between Rigas and Saules streets, which today houses a library, theater, shops, cafes, and a bank. All major city events take place here.
For detailed information “what to see and where to go”, as well as about all events and performances in the city, go to the Daugavpils Tourist Information Center: Rigas Street, 22a.
At the end of the 19th century, the head of the city, Pavel Dubrovin, created a 3-hectare park in the center of the Daugavpils - today this park bears the name of its founder and is a favorite resting place for all citizens. In the northeastern part of the city, Stropi, in the area of \u200b\u200bLake Lielais Stropu is a popular recreational area. Daugavpils is also proud of its sports complex with the Ice Palace and the largest open-air swimming pool in the Baltic states.
On the way from the Daugavpil to Kraslava on the picturesque banks of the Daugava River the Daugavas loki national park is located. On its territory, a model of the Dinaburg fortress of the 13th century was built, which marked the beginning of the history of the city. Also not far from the Daugavpils, in the town of Pilskalne, there is a forest landscape park Pilskalnes of Siguldina with educational trails and themed wooden figures.
In general, Daugavpils, like no other Latvian city, is surrounded by water and forest resources: 15 lakes, 8 rivers, countless streams and 10,000 hectares of forests and parks.
