Krāslava (; , , , , ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and the administrative centre of

Krāslava Municipality Krāslava Municipality (, ) is a municipality in Latgale, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2001 by Merger (politics), merging Krāslava Parish and Krāslava town. In 2009 it absorbed Auleja Parish, Indra Parish, Izvalta Parish, Kalnieši Par ...

. The town lies on 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 ...

, upstream and to the east of the city of

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

. Most of the town is situated on the right coast of the Daugava. As defined by Latvian law, Krāslava belongs partially to the

Latgale Latgale (; ; ; ; ; ; Belarusian Latin alphabet, Belarusian Latin: ''Łathalija''; ), also known as Latgalia or Latgallia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region of the country and lies north of the Daugava River. Wh ...

region (on the right side of the Daugava) and partially to the

Selonia Selonia (; ), also known as Augšzeme (the "Highland"), is one of the Historical Latvian Lands encompassing the eastern part of the historical region of Semigallia () as well as a portion of northeastern Lithuania. Its main city and cultural ce ...

region (on the left side of the Daugava).

History

* Krāslava was an important hillfort on the waterway from the Varangians to the Byzantine Empire since early Middle Ages, part of the orthodox

Principality of Jersika The Principality of Jersika (; ; ) was a medieval Latgalians, Latgalian principality in the east of modern-day Latvia, and one of the largest medieval states in Latvia before the Northern Crusades. The capital of Jersika was located on a hill fo ...

in the 13th century. * In 1558 was mentioned for the first time in written sources of Livonian Order as ''Kreslau'' (in German). * In 1676 the church was built by

Jesuit Order The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by ...

and Krāslava became the most northern located center of the Jesuit movement on the border with the areas dominated by Protestant and Orthodox churches. * In 1729 Count Jan Ludwik Plater bought Krāslava. For nearly two centuries the Plater family determined Kraslava economical and cultural life. * Craftmen from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in co-operation with local people organized the production of carpets, velvet, silk and cotton material, weapons, jewellery and other goods. The goods were in demand at the four Kraslava fairs and also exported to

Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

, Poland and Germany. * Between 1757 and 1842 Krāslava was home for a Roman Catholic seminary, one of the first educational institutions in

region.

Prominent residents

* writer Kazimierz Bujnicki * Sculptor Naoum Aronson (1872-1943) * Signatorie to the Act of Independence of Lithuania Donatas Malinauskas *

Philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Nikolai Lossky * Writer and philosopher Konstantin Raudive *

Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

Konstantin Budkevich –

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest executed in the Lubyanka Prison on Easter Sunday 1923. *

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

Ineta Radēviča *

Valentīna Gotovska *

Basketball player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's ...

Jānis Timma Jānis Timma (2 July 1992 – 17 December 2024) was a Latvian professional basketball player. Standing at , he mainly played at the small forward position. He also represented the senior Latvia men's national basketball team, Latvia national team ...

Opera Singer Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a lib ...

and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Katrina Krumpane * Siarhiej Sacharaŭ (1880-1954), Belarusian folklorist, ethnographer, pedagogue. * Mocieĺ Blinčykaŭ (1896-1935), leader of the revolutionary movement in

Western Belarus Western Belorussia or Western Belarus (; ; ) is a historical region of modern-day Belarus which belonged to the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period. For twenty years before the 1939 invasion of Poland, it was the northern part of th ...

Gallery

File:Krasłaŭ, Dźvina. Краслаў, Дзьвіна (N. Orda, 1875-76).jpg, Panorama of Krāslava in 1875-1876 File:Krasłaŭskaja ratuša. Краслаўская ратуша (N. Orda, 1875-76).jpg, Krāslava Town Hall in 1875-1876 File:Brivibas iela in Kraslava.jpg, Brivibas Street in Krāslava, 1898 File:Krasłaŭ, Rynak. Краслаў, Рынак (1918).jpg, Krāslava Market Square in 1918 File:Krāslavas pils1.jpeg, Krāslava Palace File:Krāslavas katoļu baznīca.jpg, Krāslava Catholic Church File:Kraslava.jpg

Transportation

Krāslava is home to a station on the

Latvian Railways Latvijas dzelzceļš (', abbr. LDz) is the state-owned company responsible for managing public railway infrastructure in Latvia. It is fully owned by the Government of Latvia, Latvian government, with 100% of its shares held by the state. The com ...

References

External links