Latvia: Seven Art Nouveau Facades in Riga

Riga shows what the period of freedom from Russian (Soviet) rule between the end of World War I and 1940 did for the Latvians. There was a flowering of Art Nouveau, brilliantly shown on the fascades of buildings in the capital. Many other buildings have small Art Nouveau features integrated into them or small decorations on very adventurous buildings. The seven examples shown here are of the most baroque examples rather than the subtle...

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A Visit to Latvia - The Much Reconstructed Country (Part I)

Lielstraupe Castle.

This is the third reconstruction of the castle/manor house at Straupe in the Vidzeme, or central area, of Latvia. It was severely damaged as late as 1905 during revolutionary activity associated with the Russian Revolution of that year.

This is typical of major Latvian buildings as the area was subject to constant wars, starting with the tribal conflicts between Latgalians and Livs, Semigallians and Selonians; the area was then ruled by the promising sounding and nominally Christian,  Livonian Sword Brothers following authorisation of invasion and Christianisation by the Papacy in the 13c; the Sword Brovs were later absorbed by the Teutonic Knights. The area was fought over by the Rus, the Germans, the Swedes, the Poles and finally ceded to the Russians 1721 from whom there was a brief period of independence as Latvia after World War I, only to be rolled over again , in 1940 by the Russians, then invaded and occupied by the Germans 1941 and taken back by the Russians in 1944.  Latvia finally gained independence from the latter in  1991. The Russian occupation is still very much in the minds of Latvians today.

The saving element for Latvia has been its cities membership of the Hanseatic League which conferred trading rights and help make cities such as Riga rich and influential in the Baltic. However the large town near Straupe, known in German as Roop and which was probably at Lielstraupe some 4 km from the Castle given its name, was given trading rights as a member of the Hanseatic league in 1374 and became an important trading town but was totally destroyed during the wars and lost its trading status in the 17th C.

 The Ferry on the Gauja River at Ligatne

The LWF, Droad and Our Lady of the Fermentations visited Latvia in May, starting in Riga where OLoF had a Philosophy conference. After only one night all set off for rural areas, first braving the mosquitos and a thunderstorm on the Baltic coast and then driving along dirt roads to Ligatne via Straupe. We arrived on the wrong side of the river at Ligatne to find the ferry was not in operation, but sitting on the opposite shore. This necessitated a long detour via Cēsis, before final arrival at the very comfortable Lacu Mega (Bears Den) guesthouse where we were well looked after. The house was full of teddy bears, but the seven foot bear sitting in the hallway was all encompassing.

The Droad, Our Lady of the Fermentations and Mosquitos on the Still Shore of the Baltic Sea

 Ligatne: Beautifully tended gardens with blooming fruit trees characterise the villages suggesting that today people are dependent on kitchen gardens as many Rural people remain poor.

 Ligatne: Wooden houses built by the local owner of the paper mill at the end of the 19c to house workers The roofing material is modern, soviet era.

 "The largest Erosion Cave in the Baltics"

The Cable Car Tower at Krimulda

Tourism in Latvia is not well developed and we were led by notices to the cave above described eagerly in the literature as "The largest Erosion Cave in the Baltics" where we were joined by about fifty German and Japanese tourists.  This was a wind formed cave but containing a spring and no more than 15m deep. The most interesting aspect was two hundred or more years of names carved into the soft sandstone. At Krimulda is a medieval castle that, unusually, did not get reconstructed and is little more than a huge boulder foundation and and end wall with a medieval window aperture. Nearby was a cable car which traversed the valley to the town of Sigulda. OLoF walked up to have a look at the cable car tower and returned to say "obviously hasn't been used for years..." but then there was a cry from the Droad "its coming" and sure enough there in the distance, bright yellow against the green deciduous woodland of he valley, there came the cable car like something out of  a dream. It was manned by a young woman but was otherwise empty. We took the opportunity to go to Sigulda on the return trip which necessitated braving a thunderstorm and heavy rain as we traversed the cable some one hundred metres above the river.  When finally we arrived we asked for the time of the return cable car only to be told that there wasn't one as this was the last trip of the day. Instead we walked the two miles back to the car, getting soaked by the torrential rain before we had even finished descending the valley.

Nearby Ligatne is a rehabilitation centre, originally reputedly for KGB and party personell. Beneath this, down a short flight of ordinary looking steps  is an extensive civil defence nuclear bunker built by the Soviet Government at Latvian expense. It was only made public in 2007 and about half of it is available to visit. Most rooms contain out of date radio, telephone and computer equipment. There are also offices, one for the head of the Latvian government and one for the head of the Latvian Communist Party. We were fortunate to find her still in residence. The Bunker was designed to accommodate 2000 people and was generously provided with four toilets.

The Latvian Communist Party Chief in Command at the Soviet Bunker.

There is also a good line in Soviet era posters either urging proper conduct on employees, or advising on response to various types of warfare.

How to Stop Worrying and Love Biological Warfare: a Soviet Era Poster in the Bunker.

The Picos De Europa.

The Rugged Terrain of the Picos De Europa.  Photo: The Droad.

The Droad and the LWF had walked in this area some twelve to fourteen years in the past, but apart from the dramatic, bare mountains and the hard walking could remember very little about it all, possibly because at that time there were three children in tow. Eventually we identified the camp site where we had stayed, the centrally placed Santa Marina de Valdeón between the Occidental and Oriental massifs at about 1100 m. altitude which comprise the Picos. These mountains are named after the fact that they are the first things to be seen by sailors approaching Europe from the west, as they ascend to 2,600 meters. 

The first walk was from the camp site, down the hill until just before the bridge there is an unmetalled track which runs north-westward up hill into a beech wood which includes older oaks, despite which there is total lack of undergrowth. The track follows the contour looping around until it was running south down the Valle De Paladin where it joins a similar track coming up from the village of Prada. The area was notable for an abundance of butterflies of a number of species, including Spanish marbled white, Queen of Spain Fritillary, small copper, Southern gatekeeper ? , large numbers of common blues. Butterflies were so abundant that it was possible to take three butterflies, of different species on one plant. A luminous blue thistle like plant seemed especially attractive, fortunate as the plant was clearly inedible to the cows which graze the area, so was reasonably abundant.

Scarce Copper (male) Lycaena virgaureae miegii 

 Scarce Copper (female) Lycaena virgaureae miegii 

 Large Wall Brown  Lasiommata maera f.adrasta

High Brown Fritillary Argynnis adipe

Eventually at about 1500 m. the track led into a large alpine meadow with two small huts and signs of ancient occupation, of the iron or bronze age, evidenced by ancient hut circles and enclosures.  Above were the peaks of Canto Tajedo 1637m and Pico Anso 2007 m. There were large numbers of what appeared to be Mortagon lillies which had finished flowering and which were in seed. The ascent of grass, heather and broome became increasingly steep and there was bare earth near the ridge and we did the classic thing of getting up a difficult slope to be faced with the even more difficult task of dancing down it. But after a refreshing lunch we managed it.

The next day was reserved for a more relaxing walk down the gorge between Cain and Pontcebos, a gently sloping track built next to a channel constructed in the 19c for the passage of water along the side of the gorge. The path is right on the edge of the gorge and the cliff falls away a hundred meters, or more, in places to the lively stream flowing below. The walk starts in a short series of tunnels but progress was slow because of the large numbers of walkers. Cain has become quite touristified since we last visited with three or four restaurants and at least two "supermercado" and numerous sellers of trinkquets, soft drinks and walking sticks.  At one moment an helicopter appeared and flew between the narrow walls of the gorge and even managed a turn in the confined space.  Some of the trees were difficult to identify, possibly because they are relicts and rare elsewhere.

The third day we felt ready for a bigger walk and did a treck up Remona's seat, a steep and difficult zig zag track of loose gravel and stone which the National Park authorities had done quite a bit of work on the keep it servicable. This took us on to a plateau of undulating bare pale grey limestone and a path which led above a contrasing basin of alpine pasture known as Vega de Liordes - grass bright green from the streams and springs which flowed into it. At one point it was necessary to pass along a long narrow ledge with a rock wall beneath and then there were paths that led further upward to steep pastures on which chamois grazed. On the map the mountain refuge of Torre Jermosa, for which we were heading appeared to be just around the next bend but as we went on, getting higher and higher, and colder still, the next bend in the path merely revealed more expanses of mountain with the path snaking onward. The mist began to come down, and then finally we saw the refuge, tiny amongst the rocks, about a kilometer away along a path of scree, reminiscent of a path in Oman in the Jabal Aswad.  

The Refuge Jermosa (2060 m.) lost in its mountain landscape, early morning.

There was a difficult moment at the reguge because we had planned to bivouac but the temperature was much lower than we had predicted and temperatures below zero seemed probable before dawn. It was obvious to stay at the refuge but we had managed to leave our money behind, nor had we booked a place for the night! However we guessed that as it was late in the season, 30th August we hoped the hostel would not be too crowded. After prolonged negotiations we agreed to pay an auberge in Saina Marina for the night's board when we descended. It was a good decision as there was frost on the ground the next morning and The Droad gets very cold at night. We therefore joined a cheerful, mixed age group of men,women and children who had walked to the refuge. Remarkably we were the only non-Spaniards in the group. The sleepers were packed in on foam mattresses laid side by side on two levels. Getting up onto the top level of mattresses we had been assigned was definitely the most difficult mountaineering move of the day! The bedroom was accessed by a steep narrow stairway with a loose and rickety hand rail, ending in an opened but unsecured trap door, so it was necessary to take a step right to get onto the floor of the communal bedroom. The trap door was well named, because taking hold of it to help balance on the right step caused to start to close with the risk of thrusting the person back down the hole and down the stairs to the floor below. The thought of returning through this trap in the dark in the middle of the night inhibited any such action!  The room had started cool but with the press of bodies it rapidly warmed up and by dawn everyone was stirpped down to the minimum level of decency. Eventually light became visible outside the windows in the roof, at first it was the moon but soon it became clear the first morning light was approaching and the LWF took the opportunity to execute the second most difficult move of the day and slide off the bunk and using a head torch, navigate the deadly trap door. 

The Droad later related that the move of the LWF, who had departed to use the washing and other facilities in a little privacy, was followed by a rush from the bunks to the exit with everyone talking and giggling excitedly. The Droad stayed in her bunk whilst the gaderene swine milled around in total chaos before descending through the trap door in good disorder.  Meanwhile the LWF, having washed quietly, made his way over the frozen ground to high point to the West of the Refuge to watch the first rays of the sun light up the Western Picos on a morning of unusual clarity and cloudlessness.

An alternative route down to Cordinances was briefly viewed and reviewed and dismaissed as too difficult, the path was much narrower than the ascent had been suggesting use by only fittest and most astute. Although we realised later we had probably done this route twelve years previously on a very hot day, arriving down a very narrow footpath with a steep drop on each side to the spring at Cordinanes where we two and three children doused each other with cold water to relieve the heat of the day. 

Now instead we retraced our steps, but headed for Fuente De down a zigzag cliff path which descended 1000 m. from 1,900 m. This took some three hours of shuffling down loose scree and larger rocks,earth and gravel.  Fuente De has a cable car which takes people up to the mountain top in a few minutes so it was crowded with cars and people and we passed through it as quickly as possible to take a track uphill back towards Remona's seat some 700m above, but this time it was an easy, but long treck. We had a sleep for 20 minutes in a field and then went on for seven km. or so before finding a dung free place to sleep between rocks whilst the local farmer summoned and moved his cattle into a safe place on which to graze the night away. Again at the first light of dawn we set off again, breakfasting in a field at the top of the valley before crossing the ridge and going down for another three kilometers to where the car was parked.  

The 1000 m. descent from Callado de Liordes 

Finally we drove 20km to the nearest Cash machine and payed for our night at the Refuge at  the hotel. There they were welcoming the runners who had completed a journey similar to ours in a mere five hours! We retreated to the camp site for rest and resuscitation and set off for home the next morning.

The Droad at Dawn on the Last Day on the way up to Horcada Valcavas (1880m.).