Latvia is a small Baltic republic, a country with a strong national identity, situated within the centre of the Baltic States. Throughout the course of history its desire for freedom has always taken it forward.

Riga is the capital of Latvia, a Hanseatic city and European capital of culture. Saint Petri Church is one of the oldest in the centre of the city and, at the same time, a main landmark. It is one of the most important sacred buildings of the Middle Ages and is closely linked with the development of the city.

Close to Riga is Jurmala, today a popular health resort on the Latvian Riviera, with splendid bay-windowed villas, battlements and towers, formerly Baroque and later with a nod at Gothic. Thirty kilometres of beaches with bright erinaceous quartz and a mild climate created a holiday paradise in the nineteenth century.

Amid the fertile Zemgale Plain is the magnificent, huge Baroque Jelgava Castle, the largest in Latvia. In 1737 the residence of the then secular ruler of the Duchy Of Kurland was built on the ramparts of an ancient castle of the Livonian Order. Beneath the southeast corner of the castle is the Crypt Of The Dukes, a tomb vault with thirty superbly decorated sarcophagi of tin and wood.

The picturesque primordial river valley of Gauja has for centuries attracted travellers from each corner of the world. This Livonian Switzerland not only has the charm of primary nature, but also all the ambience of the Middle Ages.

Today’s Latvia is now striking a healthy balance between a market economy, ancient traditions and the burdensome legacy of a turbulent past. Its journey into the European Union has been a success, thanks to courage, strength and faith!