Talsi

Talsi is built over nine low hills around two lakes, Talsu and Vilkmuizas, which gives it a topography no other Latvian town has: streets climb and drop, wooden and brick houses step down the slopes to the water, and viewpoints on the hills look across the roofs to the other side. The castle mound carries the remains of an early hill fort and a sculpture of a shepherd boy that is the town's emblem. The regional museum occupies a manor house above the lake. The town is the centre of northern Kurzeme and the base for the Abava valley and the coast, and it holds a summer festival on the hills.

History

The name is thought to come from a Livonian word, talusse, "secluded place". A Curonian hill fort stood here at least from the 10th century, and the settlement is first named in 1231, in a treaty between Curonian elders and the papal envoy Baldwin von Alna (Wikipedia, Talsi).

Highlights

• The nine hills - the slopes and viewpoints around the two lakes.
• Wooden houses - the timber buildings stepping down to the water.
• The castle mound - the hill fort site and its sculpture.
• The regional museum - the collection in the manor above the lake.

When to go

May to October for walking the hills; autumn colour around the lakes is the best time. The museum keeps daytime hours and closes on Mondays. Winter is quiet.

Before you go

The town is small and half a day covers it. Streets are steep. The museum is provincial in scale. Facilities are those of a small town.

Nearby

Pedvale art park lies south; the Livonian coast is northwest.

Key facts