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Likteņdārzs
Likteņdārzs (translated as Garden of Destiny from Latvian) is a monumental landscape ensemble in Koknese, Latvia. It is located near the Koknese Castle ruins on an island of Daugava created during the construction of the reservoir for the Pļaviņas Hydroelectric Power Station in 1966 due to water level rising by about 20 meters. The construction of the Garden of Destiny started in 2005 supervised by the Koknese Foundation set up the same year. It spans 21 hectares. It was designed by the Japanese landscape architect Shunmyō Masuno. The implementation is overseen by architect and the architectural company ARHIS Arhitekti. According to Masuno's design, the direction of the main alley coincides with the sunset direction on the day of the establishment of the Republic of Latvia, November 18. Likteņdarzs is also a place of remembrance for the victims of the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 and the German occupation of Latvia during World War II The military oc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koknese
Koknese () is a town in Aizkraukle Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the right bank of the Daugava River. It has a population of nearly 3,000. According to the provisions of the 2021 Latvian administrative reform, Koknese gained city rights (town status) on 1 July 2021. History The site of Koknese was originally a Latgalian and Selonian settlement named Kukenois. By the late 12th century, the settlement of Koknese had fallen under the loose sovereignty of Principality of Polotsk as a tributary sub-principality. At the beginning of the 13th century, the crusading Livonian Brothers of the Sword led by Bishop Albert of Buxhoeveden of Riga began to occupy the shores of the Gulf of Riga. By 1205 in return for protection against Lithuanians and Polotsk, the Eastern Orthodox Church prince Vyachko (''Vetseka'') of Koknese gave half of his land to Albert. By 1209 Koknese had been taken over by the Order, whereupon Albert ordered the construction of a stone cast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shunmyō Masuno
(born 28 February 1953) is a Japanese monk and garden designer. He is chief priest of the Sōtō Zen temple Kenkō-ji (建功寺), professor at Tama Art University, and president of a design firm that has completed numerous projects in Japan and overseas. He has been called "Japan's leading garden designer". Career Shunmyō Masuno was born in Yokohama as the eldest child of the 17th chief priest of Kenkō-ji. After graduating in 1975 from the Faculty of Agriculture of Tamagawa University he continued an apprenticeship in garden design under Katsuo Saitō, who had designed the garden at his father's temple. From 1979 he underwent Zen training at Sōji-ji, one of the two head temples of the Sōtō school. He founded Japanese Landscape Consultants, his garden design firm, in 1982. He became chief priest of Kenkō-ji in 2000. Since the 1980s he has lectured at universities such as Cornell, University of London, and Harvard. He is a professor in the Department of Environmental Design ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of , with a population of 1.9million. The country has a Temperate climate, temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city is Riga. Latvians, who are the titular nation and comprise 65.5% of the country's population, belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian language, Latvian. Russians in Latvia, Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population; 37.7% of the population speak Russian language, Russian as their native tongue. After centuries of State of the Teutonic Order, Teutonic, Swedish Livonia, Swedish, Inflanty Voi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koknese Castle
Koknese Castle (, ) is a complex in Koknese, in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, dating from the 13th century. The castle was situated on a high Bluff (geography), bluff overlooking the Daugava River, Daugava river valley. In 1965 a hydroelectric dam was built downriver, creating a water reservoir that partially submerged the castle and flooded the surrounding valley. The castle was heavily contested between Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish, Swedish Empire, Swedish and Russian Empire, Russian forces in the 16th and 17th centuries. It changed hands many times, while the native inhabitants endured periodic slaughter, capture, and famine. In 1701, during the Great Northern War, Koknese was blown up by retreating forces to avoid the strategic castle falling into advancing Russian hands. History Before the arrival of the Teutonic Knights, Koknese was the site of a wooden hill fort inhabited by the Balts. In 1209 Bishop Albert of Riga ordered the construction of a stone castle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daugava
The Daugava ( ), also known as the Western Dvina or the Väina River, is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. The Daugava rises close to the source of the Volga. It is in length, of which are in Latvia and in Russia. It is a westward-flowing river, tracing out a great south-bending curve as it passes through northern Belarus. The city of Ķekava is located 6 miles south of the west bank of the river. Latvia's capital, Riga, bridges the river's estuary four times. Built on both riverbanks, the city centre is from the river's mouth and is a significant port. Etymology According to Max Vasmer's ''Etymological Dictionary'', the toponym Dvina cannot stem from a Uralic language; instead, it possibly comes from an Indo-European word which used to mean 'river' or 'stream'. The name ''Dvina'' strongly resembles '' Danuvius'' which is itself derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''*dānu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pļaviņas Hydroelectric Power Station
The Pļaviņas Hydroelectric Power Station is the largest hydroelectric power plant in the Baltics and one of the biggest in the European Union. It is located in Aizkraukle on the Daugava River. It has ten individual water turbines with an total installed capacity of 894 MW. The construction sparked an unusual wave of protests in 1958. Most Latvians opposed the flooding of historical sites and a particularly scenic gorge with rare plants and natural features, such as the Staburags. The construction of the dam was endorsed in 1959, however, after the purge of relatively liberal and nationally oriented leaders under Eduards Berklavs and their replacement by Moscow-oriented, ideologically conservative cadres led by Arvīds Pelše. The plant was put into full operation in 1968. Between 1991 and 2001, six additional turbines were added to the original four, increasing the capacity to 868.5 MW. Reconstruction and overhaul of the units between 2007 and 2010 increased both the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republic Of Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of , with a population of 1.9million. The country has a Temperate climate, temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city is Riga. Latvians, who are the titular nation and comprise 65.5% of the country's population, belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian language, Latvian. Russians in Latvia, Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population; 37.7% of the population speak Russian language, Russian as their native tongue. After centuries of State of the Teutonic Order, Teutonic, Swedish Livonia, Swedish, Inflanty Voi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soviet Occupation Of Latvia In 1940
The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany and its Secret Additional Protocol signed in August 1939. In 1989, the USSR condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Nazi Germany and itself that had led to the invasion and occupation of the three Baltic countries, including Latvia. In July 1989, the people of Latvia began the process of restoring their independence. In 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Latvia's sovereignty was fully restored. On 22 August 1996, the Latvian parliament adopted a declaration that stated that the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 was a military occupation and an illegal incorporation. The occupation was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights cases on Occupation of Baltic States the Government of Latvia, [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Occupation Of Latvia During World War II
The military occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany was completed on 10 July 1941, by Germany's armed forces. Initially, the territory of Latvia was under the military administration of Army Group North, but on 25 July 1941, Latvia was incorporated as Generalbezirk Lettland, subordinated to Reichskommissariat Ostland, an administrative subdivision of Nazi Germany. Anyone not racially acceptable or who opposed the German occupation, as well as those who had cooperated with the Soviet Union, was killed or sent to concentration camps in accordance with the Nazi Generalplan Ost. Persecutions Immediately after the establishment of German authority at the beginning of July 1941, the elimination of the Jewish and Roma population began, with major mass killings taking place at Rumbula and elsewhere. The killings were committed by the Einsatzgruppe A, and the ''Wehrmacht''. Latvian collaborators, including 500 to 1,500 members of the Arājs Kommando (which alone killed around ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
