Things to do in Daugavpils
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Fortress
Daugavpils' most remarkable feature is the huge fortress, built by the Russians in 1810 on the northwestern side of town and occupied by the Soviet army until 1993. A red-brick bunker monument by the entrance states (in Russian and Latvian) that the Tatar poet Musa Jalil languished here from September to October 1942, in what was then the Nazi concentration camp Stalag 340.
Tickets to the inner compound are sold at the former Soviet checkpoint. Once inside, you can follow the abandoned, run-down streets past boarded-up buildings and desolate parade areas. Part of the Soviet barracks - once home to some 6000 army personnel including 2500 army cadets attending the engineeri…
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Regional Studies & Art Museum
The Regional Studies & Art Museum, inside an Art-Nouveau house guarded by two stone lions, has an exhibition of high-quality reproductions of abstract painter Mark Rothko's paintings.
Rothko was borne in Daugavpils in 1903 and lived in the city until 1913, when his family moved to the USA. Although long recognized throughout the Western world, Rothko's work remained relatively anonymous in his home country until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Today the museum is striving to awaken national interest in the artist through its exhibition and educational programmes in local schools.
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Roman Catholic Church
Downtown Daugavpils is a typical Soviet city centre of straight streets arranged in a strict grid, a couple of large squares, a desolate park with a black-marble monument to those who died in WWII (and an eternal flame that no longer burns), and a mixture of pre-WWII and Soviet-era buildings. Ugly Hotel Latvija is the dominant landmark - a dramatic contrast to the white-domed Roman Catholic church next to it across Cietoksņa iela.
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Mziuri
Mziuri shines. It dishes up delicious Georgian cuisine in a stone-clad interior decorated with Georgian castles. Eating its kuchmachi (spicy liver cooked with pomegranate seeds) and chanahi (ground pork stewed with eggplant) is a definite Daugavpils highlight.
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Gubernator
Tucked away in a cellar, Gubernator is an unpretentious spot with a menu featuring Latvian and international dishes. The place has a publike vibe, and is the liveliest place to drink in town.
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Vēsma
Multifunctional Vēsma features a self-service canteen with a decent salad bar on one side and a rather hip café and bar on the other. It's a popular place with the local crowd.
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