Vārdu diena / Names’ day (11 / 6) — Leo, Leonards, Leonhards, Leons, Linards
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Latvia, one of the three Baltic states, bounded by Estonia, Russia, Belarus, Lithuania, and the Baltic Sea; domain of lush forests and river valleys, sandy coastlines, and medieval architecture. Steeped in ancient traditions. The Crusades, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Poland-Lithuania, France, and Russia have all swept over Latvia — a unique window into European history.

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Dig deeper into the Kremlin with our Soviet propaganda collection, even Stalin's own words.

Finally, journey with us as we explore our Latvian heritage:

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Also visit other Latvia-related sites we author or curate!

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We've added another window into the 1920's: a subscription installment of "The World and Its People," featuring illustrated country profiles of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. We had no idea wild bison roamed Lithuania! latvians.com/?en/CFBH/WorldAndItsPeople/  2024 Nov 04
We've upscaled and sharpened renowned Soviet-era photographer Naum Granovsky's color postcard album of Rīga. latvians.com/?en/CFBH/RigaSoviet/  2024 Oct 14
Content we added during our refresh of Latvians.com includes a list of 272 individuals from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania "wanted" by the Kremlin—many of them current and former government representatives or officials—extracted from a Kremlin list of 96,752 (!) total names. latvians.com/?en/News/level-040-ruwanted_RU.csv  2024 Sep 24
After a recent inquiry about our "mittens for NATO" collection, we 4X AI-upscaled all our mitten images. We hope you find they are a much-improved viewing expertise. latvians.com/?en/CFBH/Zimes/zimes-20-natomittens.ssi  2024 Sep 24
We've also added the rest of Peters' October 2004 travelogue featuring Brethren and Rainis Cemeteries, Viestura and George Washington parks, the export port and Pētersala neighborhood, a day in the country, plus the usual Old Rīga and left bank strolls—and RIP Soviet monument to the not-liberators. latvians.com/?en/Trips/Peters_200410/  2024 Aug 21
Nearly 20 years after the fact (October, 2004!), we finally caught up to completing our "Along the No.11 Tram Line" photo feature. latvians.com/?en/Trips/Features-RigaTram/  2024 Aug 21
Lost to (according to search engines) time except a declassified CIA document, the 1960 "Manifesto of Free Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians." In English and Latvian, still searching for copies in Estonian and Lithuanian. And a ceremony and solemn promise to return a Latvian Legion regiment's flag to Latvia once it is free again. latvians.com/?en/CFBH/1960Manifesto/  2024 Aug 21
We've added an excerpt from "Travels Into Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark" (1790) by William Coxe, historian-clergyman cum tutor-traveling companion to the nobility, featuring Coxe's account of his travels through Livonia, Volume III, Chapter IV—"Journey from Petersburgh to Riga—history of Livonia—Narva— Dorpt—Riga—Anecdotes of General Brown." Look for his statistics on Rīga's shipping and international trade from the 1780's. (Hint, you'll need to read to the end.) latvians.com/?en/CFBH/Travels1790/  2024 Aug 17
We've added another view of Latvia from 17th century: "An Account OF LIVONIA; WITH A RELATION OF THE Rise, Progress, and Decay OF THE Marian Teutonick Order. The several Revolutions that have happen’d there to these present Times, with the Wars of Poland, Sweden and Muscovy, contending for that Province. A particular Account of the Dukedoms of Courland, Semigallia, and the Province of Pilten. ..." This collection of 17 letters offers a rare contemporaneous view of Latvia, covering Livonian history from ruminations on northern European settlement following Noah's Biblical flood up to and through the upheavals of the tumultuous 17th century. The entire book is available in facsimile. We have transcribed the first two letters so far, preserving look and feel. latvians.com/?en/CFBH/AccountLivonia/  2024 Aug 15
Seventeenth century Latvians and Estonians (Livonia) were subjects of the Swedes, and Rīga was the largest city of the empire. It was a golden age: serfdom was eased, the power of the Germanic robber-barons diminished; and schools were established for the peasantry. Our hunt for contemporaneous sources yielded an 1701 revised English edition ("up to date as of 1688") of Louis Moréri's (1643–1680) "Le Grand Dictionaire historique, ou le mélange curieux de l'histoire sacrée et profane" ("The Great Historical Dictionary, or Curious Anthology of Sacred and Secular History"). We transcribed all the Baltics-related entries to create a window into the 1600's. latvians.com/?en/CFBH/GreatHistorical/  2024 Aug 14
We're excited to announce we've completed our year-plus website refresh, featuring a new look and feel, simplified navigation, and yes—even more content. Look for our new timeline of Latvian history. Most reference links still work, but we did reorganize our travelogues. We'll be announcing content additions separately. latvians.com/index.php?en/CultureHistory/level-000-history.ssi  2024 Aug 13
We've upscaled and sharpened renowned Soviet-era photographer Naum Granovsky's color postcard album of Rīga. latvians.com/?en/CFBH/RigaSoviet/  2024 Oct 14
After a recent inquiry about our "mittens for NATO" collection, we 4X AI-upscaled all our mitten images. We hope you find they are a much-improved viewing expertise. latvians.com/?en/CFBH/Zimes/zimes-20-natomittens.ssi  2024 Sep 24
Nearly 20 years after the fact (October, 2004!), we finally caught up to completing our "Along the No.11 Tram Line" photo feature. latvians.com/?en/Trips/Features-RigaTram/  2024 Aug 21
We've added an excerpt from "Travels Into Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark" (1790) by William Coxe, historian-clergyman cum tutor-traveling companion to the nobility, featuring Coxe's account of his travels through Livonia, Volume III, Chapter IV—"Journey from Petersburgh to Riga—history of Livonia—Narva— Dorpt—Riga—Anecdotes of General Brown." Look for his statistics on Rīga's shipping and international trade from the 1780's. (Hint, you'll need to read to the end.) latvians.com/?en/CFBH/Travels1790/  2024 Aug 17
Seventeenth century Latvians and Estonians (Livonia) were subjects of the Swedes, and Rīga was the largest city of the empire. It was a golden age: serfdom was eased, the power of the Germanic robber-barons diminished; and schools were established for the peasantry. Our hunt for contemporaneous sources yielded an 1701 revised English edition ("up to date as of 1688") of Louis Moréri's (1643–1680) "Le Grand Dictionaire historique, ou le mélange curieux de l'histoire sacrée et profane" ("The Great Historical Dictionary, or Curious Anthology of Sacred and Secular History"). We transcribed all the Baltics-related entries to create a window into the 1600's. latvians.com/?en/CFBH/GreatHistorical/  2024 Aug 14
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