Likteņdārzs (translated as Garden of Destiny from Latvian) is a monumental landscape ensemble in

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 ...

, Latvia. It is located near the

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 d ...

ruins on an island of

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 ...

created during the construction of the reservoir for the

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 ...

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 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 ...

, November 18. Likteņdarzs is also a place of remembrance for the victims of the

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 i ...

and the

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 in ...

. The inner walls of the circular memorial building display the names of the hundreds of thousands of Latvians perished and subbefer during repeated occupations.NAME LIST OF PERSONS DEPORTED FROM ESTONIA 1945–1953
p. 18 File:Likteņdārzs - panoramio (2).jpg, A part of Likteņdārzs, 2011 File:Koknese Parish, Latvia - panoramio (11).jpg, Names on the Alley of FriendsLikteņdārzs aicina svētkos ierakstīt savas dzimtas vārdus Draugu alejā
- These paving stones are one of the forms of donation. As of December 2020 there were about 30,000 names

References

External links

Likteņdārzs official website
{{authority control Koknese Monuments and memorials in Latvia