Kolka ( Livonian: ''Kūolka'') 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 ...

Kolka Parish Kolka parish ( lv, Kolkas pagasts, liv, Kūolka pagāst) is an administrative unit of Talsi Municipality in the Courland region of Latvia. Villages of Kolka parish * Kolka - parish administrative center * Košrags * Mazirbe * Pitrags * S ...

Talsi Municipality Talsi Municipality ( lv, Talsu novads) is a municipality in Courland, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Abava parish, Balgale parish, Ģibuļi parish, Īve parish, Ķūļciems parish, Laidze parish, Lauciene parish, L� ...

, on the tip of

Cape Kolka , lv, Kolkasrags , type =Cape , photo = Kolkas rags.jpg , photo_width = , photo_alt = , photo_caption = Cape Kolka , map = Latvia , map_width = , map_caption = , m ...

Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...

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 ...

, on the coast of the

Gulf of Riga The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia ( lv, Rīgas līcis, et, Liivi laht) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main con ...

in ancient

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

Livonian homeland

Kolka and other surrounding villages of

Livonian coast Livonian Coast ( liv, Līvõd Rānda, italic=no; lv, Lībiešu krasts, italic=no) is a territory of Latvia historically inhabited by Livonian people. It is located in Northern Courland and encompasses twelve Livonian villages. The protected area ...

are home to the last remnants of Latvia's Livonian ethnic group, whose

Livonian language The Livonian language ( liv, līvõ kēļ, link=no or ; et, liivi keel, link=yes) is a Finnic language whose native land is the Livonian Coast of the Gulf of Livonia, located in the north of the Kurzeme peninsula in Latvia. Although its last ...

is highly endangered. The village has the highest number of Livonians in the historical area of

. In 1995, of the 186 Livonians in Latvia, 53 were living in Kolka.Toomas Tombu - The Livonians' Estonian
/ref>

History

Kolka may be the place where Danish archbishop

Absalon Absalon (21 March 1201) was a Danish statesman and prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and archbishop of Lund List of (arch)bishops of Lund. Until the Danish Reformation the centre of a gr ...

built the first church in the Baltic region. The first mentions of it are from 1387, when it was called Domesnes, which may refer to Danish or Finnish background. The Livonian name ''Kūolka'' means "corner" in English. Situated on the cape, the Kolka lighthouse was built in 1864 by

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. ...

navy and has been renovated twice (in 1975 and 1985). There are also ruins of the old lighthouse, which was built in the 14th century.

Climate

Religion

Kolka has three picturesque old churches (all in service now):

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

, and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

(the three largest religious groups in Latvia). Kolka also has connection to the Tikhvin icon (

Theotokos of Tikhvin The Theotokos of Tikhvin is one of the most celebrated Orthodox Christian icons. It is said to be one of the icons written by St. Luke the Evangelist. According to tradition, in the 5th century, the icon was transferred from Jerusalem to Constant ...

), as it is Kolka's

priest first saved it and his spiritual son later returned it to its original place. Tikhvinskaya

Present times

Kolka has a small hotel, a restaurant, several shops, a post office, a chemist, and a petrol station. An old fish processing factory (now closed) is located in the port harbour. There is a Livonian cultural centre with a small museum.

References

External links

www.kolka.lv
Towns and villages in Latvia Gulf of Riga Populated coastal places in Latvia Talsi Municipality Courland {{Courland-geo-stub