Ķekava (historical ) is a city in

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 t ...

, in the historical region of

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-centra ...

. It is on the left side of the , a tributary of the

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 ...

River. Ķekava serves as the center of

Ķekava Municipality Ķekava Municipality () is a municipality in Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by Merger (politics), merging Baloži town, Daugmale Parish and Ķekava Parish, the administrative centre being Ķekava. On 1 July 2021, Ķekava Municipalit ...

and Ķekava Parish.

Etymology

According to the version of the etymologist , "Ķekava" is a word of Baltic origin: in ancient Indo-European languages, the root "kek" means "bend, bend", and "av(e)" means "moisten, dehydrate, flow". This hydronym probably reflects the course of the : in the upper reaches it runs parallel to the Daugava, but in the middle reaches there are some sharp bends, turning towards the mouth of the Daugava.

History

In 1916, the First Battle of Kekava and Second Battle of Kekava were fought at Ķekava. Ķekava was a small village until 1970s (with a population of 333 in 1967). After the creation of the Ķekava

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz. These were the two components of the socialized farm sector that began to eme ...

and the construction of the poultry factory (''Ķekavas putnu fabrika''), the village's population increased. Following the

Singing Revolution The Singing Revolution was a series of events from 1987 to 1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War. The term was coined by a ...

and

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, the once state-owned factory in the town transitioned into a privately owned enterprise, now known simply as
Ķekava
'. The chickens produced in this factory account for over 95% of all poultry production in

. After the 2021 Latvian administrative reform, Ķekava gained the status of a city on 1 July 2022.Law of administrative territories
(in Latvian)

Geography

Bodies of Water

Roads

Roads from Ķekava: Riga—Warsaw (A7), Riga beltway (A5), Ķekava-Plakanciems (V6), Ķekava bypass road (not ended yet).

Notable places

*World War II cemetery Brāļu Kapi (Graves of the Brothers) *Local History Museum of Ķekava *Ķekava ( Dole) Lutheran Church *House Of Culture

Culture

Ķekava holds an annual city festival.

Sport

The

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club

Auda .au Domain Administration (auDA) is the policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au, .au domain, which is the country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Australia. It was formed in 1999 to manage the .au ccTLD with the endorse ...

, headquartered in Ķekava, participates in the

Latvian First League The Latvian First League () is the second tier of football in Latvia and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation. Since 2021, its full name is Nākotnes Līga (''Future League''). History The league was founded together with other Latv ...

championships, with their youth and junior teams engaging in the Latvian Youth Football Championship. Ķekava has the

floorball Floorball (also known by other names) is a sport played with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. It is played indoors with sticks and a hollow plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three periods. The sport of bandy also playe ...

club Ķekavas Bulldogs, fielding both men's and women's teams

Gallery

Pildrežģu ēka Ķekavā.jpg Курятники - panoramio.jpg, Chicken meat factory Ķekavas upīte pie Ķekavas 1998-11-07 - panoramio.jpg, River Ķekaviņa Doles (Ķekavas) luterāņu baznīca 1.jpg, In church

References

External links

* Populated places in Ķekava Municipality Cities and towns in Vidzeme {{Vidzeme-geo-stub