JEKABPILS COUNTY
Like a hawk's wings spread for flight, Jēkabpils county has embraced both banks of the river Daugava. The vast expanse of the river's waters both separates and divides, and unites and holds the county tightly together. This does not really give Latgale the Krustpils side, it does not allow Jekabpils bank to fully grow with the vastness of Selonia regiont. And the city does not really belong to any region. Because it is nurtured by the Daugava. Belonging to the Daugava. Placed at the crossroads.
Jēkabpils grew up on the banks of the Daugava, - in a place where the stream of the river, having stopped at a cluster of picturesque islands, begins to ripple and twist in bends. Ahead are wide gravel shoals and wide stone thresholds that must be crossed. This is the largest rapid on the Daugava, stretching for four kilometers and since ancient times has been considered the greatest fear of river travelers. It is possible that this dangerous section of the road was an excuse for sailors from distant lands to first land on the shore and catch their breath. They only got a hint of the world that does not end beyond the far bend of the river. Perhaps this is how the myth was born that the Daugava begins in the sky - in an unknown and inaccessible place - but nevertheless reaches everyone who lives on its banks.
Today, Jēkabpils region consists of the capital - Jēkabpils, two cities - Aknīste and Viesīte, and 22 parishes - Aknīste, Asare, Gārsene, Ābeļi, Dignāja, Dunava, Kalna, Leimaņi, Rubene, Zasa, Atašiene, Krustpils, Kūkas, Mežāre, Vasrieši, Vīpe, Sala, Sēlpils, Elkšņi, Rite, Sauka, Viesīte parishes.
The memory of the people of Jēkabpils county can be compared to a river flowing through time: the past, present and future together form the flow of time in which we live. The locals know the old saying that it is impossible to step into the same river twice, it flows and changes with us. However, it always remains a river, not just a stream of water, as long as it has its own name and meaning in the consciousness of the people of Jēkabpils region who live on its banks.
The region is proud of its cultural and historical heritage, which is embodied in many cultural monuments and objects, historical figures and local traditions, in which the cultural space of Selonia has a strong influence.
JEKABPILS CITY
Legend has it that in 1670, the Duke of Courland, Jacob, came hunting and hunted a lynx in the forest near the Daugava. To the settlement near the Salas pub, where the duke had settled and was overwhelmed by a successful hunt he granted city rights and named it Jacobstadt after himself, which we know today as Jēkabpils.
In honor of this, the city's symbol, the lynx, greets visitors at the Old Town Square in Jēkabpils. It is said that wishes whispered into its ear come true.
The Daugava, as a trade highway, as a war route, and as a border river, has brought the city such diverse cultural layers that few other cities can boast of. The city's residents honor and protect these values as the uniqueness of multinational Jēkabpils. It is noteworthy that in the silhouette of the left bank, which is magnificently visible against the background of the Daugava in the evening sun, the domes of the Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit stand out most clearly. The only men's monastery in Latvia is also located here.
On the right bank, the Krustpils Castle houses the oldest values, created from the 13th century and influenced by German culture, as well as evidence from other centuries to the present day.
A seemingly imperceptible value in everyday life is the historical centers of the city, the old network of streets, preserved on both banks of the city. The ancient, beautiful and valuable can be found not only in the castle and noble churches. On the left bank of the river, the appearance of the city center is made prouder by the building of the former district school with massive columns on the main facade, built in 1820. Also the building of the former Court of Justice (now the county council), built in 1880 with a facade decorated with richly profiled window frames and cornices in the eclectic style. On both sides of the Daugava, the oldest streets can boast of many houses built of special profiled red clay bricks, with ornate facades, which form the features of Jēkabpils. Wooden residential houses are of particular value, reflecting the folk building traditions and the skill of educated craftsmen. There you can see both the lasting contribution of Old Believer carpenters to wooden architecture, and the tradition that came from Latgale - to build a courtyard enclosed by a dense fence and a gate.
You can casually run past all this and not realize that energy and strength can be drawn from the presence of the old town, from the close, tangible, convenient scale. Jēkabpils wakes up every morning next to the Daugava. Both banks look at each other in surprise, because something has changed again.
VIESITE TOWN
Just half an hour's drive from Jēkabpils, the heart of Selonia - Viesite - awaits visitors. The prehistory of the current Viesīte was centered on the former trading town of Sēlpils, which was located in Sunākstē, but completely died out in the great plague of 1710. Later – around 1890, at the crossroads of the roads from Jaunjelgava to Rokišķi and from Jēkabpils to Nereta, a town of craftsmen and small traders began to form around the Āži tavern on the land of the Eķengrāve manor. This bustling place gradually evolved into Viesīte, until on February 7, 1928, it acquired city rights. Viesīte took its name from the name of the river and lake.
However, even earlier here, in the nearby area of Sunākstē and Vārnava, a small cultural center of the Duchy of Courland began to form around the priest Stenders and the nobleman Bolšvings. The outstanding works of Old Stender “Book of High Wisdom” (1774), “Latvian Grammar” (2nd edition 1783), his “Latvian-German Dictionary” (1789), the first secular writings in Latvian were written here. The Stender family worked here for several generations.
To preserve the cultural and historical heritage, the “Sēlija” museum operates in the center of Viesīte, which immortalizes and preserves the heritage, lifestyle and traditions of the ancient Selonia tribe and the Selonia cultural and historical region. The museum features a reconstructed narrow-gauge railway complex, as well as a craft center with textile and woodworking workshops. From the times when the life of Viesīte was determined by the narrow-gauge railway, a locomotive with one passenger and one freight car, a platform and two trolleybuses has survived.
The memorial room of medical professor Pauls Stradiņš is located in the historical center of Viesīte. The people of Viesīte keep the memory of the professor, retell the stories of their contemporaries about the outstanding personality, the nobleman of the spirit, the simple doctor Pauls Stradiņš and his family.
In 1939, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Freedom in Viesīte was built. It was decided to name it after Freedom under the influence of historical events, when the Latvian independence struggle took place in the church in 1919.
Viesīte has its own "castle" - on the hill in the very center of the city. L. Skuja took the architectural idea of the castle from the prototype of the ancient Selonia castle. It was built in 1992-2001 and is still the largest and most modern cultural palace in the Latvian countryside.
AKNISTE TOWN
The name Aknīste first appears in historical sources in the 13th century. It began to take shape on the Saltupe hillfort. This hillfort is also popularly known as the French Skanst, associating it with the entry of Napoleon's troops into Aknīste in 1812.
In the 18th century, one of the largest estates of the barons Tīzenhausen was located in Aknīste. There was a time when the town belonged to the Duchy of Courland-Zemgale. Over the course of several centuries, Aknīste also belonged to the Kaunas Governorate of Lithuania.
Not far from Aknīste, on the very border with Lithuania, is Gārsene - one of the most beautiful places in Selonia. The Dienvidsusēja River, which winds through a deep ancient valley, the Zuju and Vecmuižas lakes, in which the first Gārsene Castle with the entire diamond rooster at the top of the tower is said to have sunk, small rivers, ponds, large stones and mighty trees make this place especially picturesque. The ornament and greatest pride of Gārsene is the Gārsene Castle, built in 1860 in the neo-Gothic style with a manor complex, church and chapel.
The owners of the castle began to create a park around the newly built castle with many unique and large trees, alleys, bridges, ponds and benches as early as the 19th century. Since then, several romantic recreation areas have survived, which are complemented by beautiful trails with recreation areas created on the steep banks of the ancient valley of the Dienvidsusēja River. The trails feature more than 40 unique natural objects and all of Gārsene's most notable architectural and cultural-historical monuments.
The Gārsene trails wind along the cheerful and lively Dienvidsusēja River, which does not like a calm flow. As it meanders playfully, it has carved its way through the layers of dolomite, forming arcs. You should walk along the paths along the river slowly, calmly and breathing deeply, because even the air here is full of special freshness, but along the paths you should see many wonderful natural formations, trees and rocks.