Carnikava ( Livonian: ''Sarnikau'', german: Koivemund, ''Zarnikau''), previously Sānkaule, is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

and the center of the Carnikava parish of

Ādaži Municipality Ādaži Municipality ( lv, Ādažu novads) is a municipality in the historical region of Vidzeme, and the Riga Planning Region in Latvia, which consists of Ādaži and Carnikava parishes plus the administrative centre, Ādaži. The municipality ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. It's located 25 km north from

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

at the mouth of the

Gauja River The Gauja River ( et, Koiva jõgi, german: Livländische Aa) is a river in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It is the only large river of Latvia that begins and ends its flow in Latvia. Its length is 460 km, of which 93.5 km (approxim ...

. Carnikava had 4689 residents as of January 2020. The village was first mentioned in

Livonian Chronicle of Henry The ''Livonian Chronicle of Henry'' ( la, Heinrici Cronicon Lyvoniae) offers a Latin narrative of events in Livonia (roughly corresponding to today's inland Estonia and the northern part of Latvia) and surrounding areas from 1180 to 1227. It was ...

in 1211 as a summoning place of Livonian troops. Later Carnikava grew into a fishermen village, where in the 17th century the first breeding fishery and canned fish factory in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

was built. Due to its proximity to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

, several forest lakes, the Gauja and annual fishermen and craftsmanship fairs, nowadays Carnikava is a popular summer resort among visitors from Riga. A notable symbol and long-time specialty of Carnikava has been grilled

lamprey Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...

, which is also pictured on the coat of arms of the municipality.

Heinz Christian Pander Heinz Christian Pander, also Christian Heinrich Pander ( – ), was a Russian Empire ethnic Baltic German biologist and embryologist. Biography In 1817 he received his doctorate from the University of Würzburg, and spent several years (1827� ...

(1794-1865), researcher of

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

embryology Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, '' -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...

and

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

, lived and worked in Carnikava in his estate.

References

External links

Official tourism website
Villages in Latvia Kreis Riga Ādaži Municipality Vidzeme {{Vidzeme-geo-stub