Rezekne

Rezekne is the main city of Latgale, the eastern region whose language, a written variety distinct from standard Latvian and used in publishing and liturgy, and whose Catholic and Old Believer traditions set it apart from the rest of the country. The city carries the ruins of a Livonian Order castle on a hill above the Rezekne river, the Latgale Culture and History Museum with a collection of Latgalian ceramics, and Gors, a concert hall opened in 2013 that hosts a substantial programme and has become the cultural centre of the region. The Mara monument, a figure of the Latgalian mother raised in 1939, stands in the centre and is the city emblem.

History

A Latgalian hill fort stood here from the 9th to the 13th centuries, and in 1285, when the name Rēzekne is first recorded, the Livonian Order built a stone fortress on the site as a border post on its eastern frontier; the town passed to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1559 and received Magdeburg rights in the 17th century (Wikipedia, Rēzekne).

The main sights

• The castle hill - the Order ruins above the river.
• Gors concert hall - the modern venue and its programme.
• Latgalian ceramics - the museum collection of regional pottery.
• The Mara monument - the figure in the city centre.

When to go

May to September for walking the city; the concert programme at Gors runs through the year and is worth checking. Latgalian craft fairs and the pottery tradition are strongest in summer.

Good to know

The castle is a fragmentary ruin. The city is largely modern with limited historic fabric. Museums label mainly in Latvian and Latgalian. It works best as a base for Latgale rather than a destination alone.

Nearby

Ludza lies east; Daugavpils is southwest.

Key facts