Picture perfect Koknese
Recently it was a long weekend with public holidays on the 4th May for both here in Latvia and Namibia. Latvia celebrated it's Independence day & Namibia remembered the victims of the Cassinga massacre.
We used this opportunity for 1 night on Sunday to escape from our home office into nature.
From Riga we took an almost emtpy train 100km further to Koknese, a small town surrounded by beautiful nature.
For Eur 19 we booked ourselves into a cheap motel, where we left some of our bags and started to explore right away.
Its breath taking to just walk and walk and discover new things and be surounded by nature and just you. Nature is always good for the heart,mind and soul.
We returned refreshed from our night stay trip to Koknese and I give the place a 10/10.
Things to do and see in Koknese:
Daugava River
The Daugava (Latgalian:Daugova;Russian:Западная Двина (Západnaya Dviná), meaning "Western Dvina"), is a river rising in the Valdai Hills, flowing through Russia,Belarus, and Latviaand into the Gulf of Riga. The total length of the river is 1,020 km. The Daugava offers beautiful natural surroundings.
Koknese Lutheran Church
The Koknese Evangelical Lutheran Church was built in 1687. At first it was a small wooden building without a tower, with a clay floor and thatched roof. The church was destroyed during the war and reconstructed a bit later.
The church was able to hold services again in 1731. In 1819, the church had a more serious renovation and a sacristy was built. The current tower was constructed in 1887, a new roof was also installed and interior renovations carried out. Ernst Glück, translator of the Bible into Latvian, once used to serve as a priest here.
Koknese Parks
If you are a nature lover like us, you will love visiting the Koknese nature park and just walk without any aim. You will also love hearing the birds singing, the water of the Daugava river and the plenty of sunshine.
Koknese Ruins
As with all places of this kind, visit if you are interested in history, otherwise you’ll only see “rocks”.
These are the ruins of Latvia’s oldest castle known, keeping that in mind the ruins look very well kept together. The ruins are not enormous, but I think it’s big enough.
The view over the lake is unique.
Liktendarzs - Garden of Destiny
Situated on an island in Daugava, Koknese, grows the Garden of Destiny.
It is a symbol of the Latvian nation’s continuous growth and development.
Visit the FRIENDSHIP AVENUE which will be paved with 113 000 COBBLESTONES ENGRAVED WITH THE NAME OF THE DONOR OR OF THEIR NOMINATED BENEFICIARY.
The Friendship avenue is a symbolic merging of the past, present and future of the nation’s history. It is the gardens artery of life, lined by apple trees leading visitors to the heart of the garden – the Amphitheater on the banks of the mighty Daugava.
Each apple tree being dedicated to a person, holds a special story.