2 days trip to Ligatne – beautiful nature and interesting history.

At first we will have tour accompanied by a guide to Ungurmuiža manor house ensemble with the Baroque style manor house is the only architectural monument of the 18th century wooden baroque buildings preserved in Latvia. The unique Latvian baroque style wooden building with its one-off wall-paintings heartily. The special atmosphere of the Ungurmuiža will affect everyone – art and nature lovers, historians.

Next we will wisit in Latvia is Āraiši Lake Castle is the only reconstruction of a 8/9 – 10th century fortified settlement in Europe; a unique object, which is nominated as the Latvian archaeological monument of 2020. The park excels with its unique archaeological findings, the placement of reconstruction on its original environment, and the well-preserved cultural and historical landscape of Vidzeme. The buildings on Meitu Island are designed as reconstructions according to the archaeological data obtained in Latvia and neighbouring countries about these types of Stone and Bronze Age dwellings. We will have a guided tour to Līgatnes paper mill and paper mill workers ‘village, see residential buildings and public institutions – culture house, hospital, maternity hospital, pharmacy, as well as look at the renovated paper mill workers’ apartment and go to see the sandstone caves. We may also have wine tasting in cave. The paper mill factory was founded in 1815 and operated until 2014. The factory experienced its heyday in the late 19th century. Paper mill workers’ houses, which were built at the beginning of the 19th century, have survived to the present day and are still inhabited today, moreover, they are the oldest wooden row houses in Latvia. The buildings are included in the list of national cultural heritage monuments . In addition to the workers’ houses, a pharmacy, a school, a hospital and a paper mill club have also been successfully preserved in Līgatne. The historical center of Līgatne paper mill village is a unique European-scale working-class ensemble of the workers’ village, which in 2011 was recognized as the winner of Latvia in the competition ” European Destinations of Excellency (EDEN).

We will also visit a Soviet time secret bunker. It is 9 m underground, there is a well-equipped facility with a total area of 2,000 sq.m. Bunker was built for the needs of political and state authority elite of the 1980-ies for state administration in case of nuclear war. A powerful autonomous self-sustaining structure with all necessary and high-end (for that time) equipment. All authentic underground furnishings have been retained. We will finish our tour at the Raiskums beer factory with beer tasting and excursion.