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EASTERN LA T VIA  195

5 Mazsalaca
Road Map D2. * 1,200. @ from
Rīga. n Rūjienas iela 1, 2837 4774.
∑ mazsalaca.lv
This sleepy town has little to
detain visitors, except for the
Mazsalaca Regional Museum,
with its unusual collec tion
of wood carvings on a Satanic
theme by Valters Hirte. It is
an ideal base, though, for
exploring nearby attractions,
such as the spookily named
Werewolf Pine and Devil’s
Caves, 2 km (1 mile) from town,
where the spring water is said
to have healing powers.
Skaņaiskalns (Sound Hill),
a sandstone cliff southwest
of Mazsalaca, is noted for its
echoes. It can be reached via a
park full of wooden sculp tures,
which can be viewed on the
drive through, but are better
seen on foot. The 2-km (1-mile)
path begins at the Valtenburg
manor house (now a school) on
Parka Street.
E Mazsalaca Regional Museum The Orthodox Church in Limbaži, dating back to the early 20th century
Rīgas iela 1. Tel 6425 1781.
Open May–Oct: 11am–4pm Wed– Limbaži’s stone castle, built display of artifacts that recount
Sun; Nov–Apr: 11am–4pm Tue–Thu. by the Brotherhood of the the region’s history. Close by is
Sword in 1223, served as the 1903 Orthodox Church,
the Archbishop of Rīga’s which still retains some of its
residence. A town grew up original splendour. A statue of
around the castle and formed Kārlis Baumanis, composer of
part of the Hanseatic League. the national anthem, stands in
The castle, now in ruins, was Jūras Street.
destroyed in the 1602 Polish-
Swedish War. E Museum of Regional Studies
Offering tours of the castle Burtnieku iela 7. Tel 6407 0632.
ruins is the Museum of Open May–Oct: 10am–6pm Tue–Sat;
Regional Studies (Limbažu Nov–Apr: 10am–5pm Tue–Sat.
Carved wooden soldiers in the park leading muzejs), with its fascinating 8 for castle. =
to Skaņaiskalns, Mazsalaca
Krišjānis Valdemārs
6 Limbaži One of the key figures of the Latvian National
Awakening, Krišjānis Valdemārs (1825–91) was
Road Map D3. * 9,200.
@ from Rīga. n Torņa iela 3, 6407 a writer, educationist, political thinker and
ideologist. During Valdemārs’s time the majority
0608. ∑ visitlimbazi.lv
of Latvian literary works were written by Baltic
Although it is one of Latvia’s Germans, and he sought to change this. From
oldest towns, Limbaži has 1862 until its suppression in 1865, Valdemārs
edited a Latvian-language publication, Pēterburgas
retained little of its prosperous Avīzes, alongside Krišjānis Barons and poet Juris
past. The area, which was Alunāns, which criticized the Baltic German sense
known during the 13th of cultural superiority. He encouraged Barons and
century as Metsepole (Indriķis Fricis Brīvzemnieks to start a Latvian folk songs
in Latvian), was one of three collection (see pp28–9), and was instrumental
Liv territories mentioned in the in establishing the Ainaži Naval College, where Valdemārs’s bust,
early 13th-century chronicle tuition was free and not dependent on social status. Naval Museum
written by Henry of Livonia.

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