Museum sights in Latvia
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Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum
Located way out on the outskirts of the city, the Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum is a Rīga essential. The dozens of farmhouses, churches and windmills on the grounds provide a record of bygone country life. The National Fair of Applied Arts (early June) and several festivals are held here. Take bus No 1 from the corner of Merķeļa iela and Tērbatas iela to the Brīvdabas muzejs stop.
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Museum of the Occupation of Latvia
Both the Soviet and Nazi occupations of Latvia during the last 65 years are chronicled in the chilling yet spirited Museum of the Occupation of Latvia. A gaggle of young tour guides gives free tours in English, and there's also a worthwhile one-hour audio guide available. Here you can also buy historical books on the occupation and dissident memoirs translated into English.
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Turaida Museum Reserve
The reserve's centrepiece is Turaida Castle, a red brick archbishops' castle founded in 1214 on the site of a Liv stronghold. It was blown up when lightning hit its gunpowder store in the 18th century. The restored castle is better viewed from afar, but a museum in the 15th-century granary offers an interesting account of the Livonian state from 1319 to 1561.
On the path between the castle and the road is the small wooden-spired Turaida Church, built in 1750 and housing a small history exhibition.
In the churchyard two lime trees shade the grave of the legendary Turaida Rose. The headstone bears the inscription 'Turaidas Roze 1601-1620' (Turaida means 'God's Garden' in an…
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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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Liepāja History & Art Museum
A collection of carved amber ornaments dating back 1500 years is just one of the highlights of a visit to the Liepāja History & Art Museum. Other exhibits include impressive Stone and Bronze Age artefacts unearthed on local archaeological digs, an interesting collection of old jewellery and weapons and vintage memorabilia from both world wars. At the seaside end of the same street is a monument to sailors and fishermen who died at sea.
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Museum of Horns & Antlers
There are 518 elk antlers to be seen in the Museum of Horns & Antlers - the collection from one man's lifetime of work as a forest warden in the national park (none are hunting trophies). Outside, antlers hang from the street signs. Vaide is on the Livonian coast, nestled among a wilderness of sea, sand and breathtakingly beautiful beaches and pine forests.
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Okupāciju režīmos (Occupation Museum)
This museum traces the history of Soviet and Nazi occupations in Latvia, with an emphasis on Liepāja. A visit here is a moving, albeit disturbing experience: captions are in Latvian, but words aren't needed to explain the powerful images of the 1939-40 deportations to Siberia, the genocide committed against Latvian Jews and the independence struggle in 1991.
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Latvian Occupation Museum
Behind the big, dark-red Latvian Riflemen statue, in a controversial bunker - at one point slated to be razed for its ugliness - is the Latvijas okupācijas muzejs, or Occupation Museum. It gives an impressive account of the Soviet and Nazi occupations of Latvia between 1940 and 1991. It is both informative and disturbing.
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Livonian Order Castle
Ventspils' 13th-century Livonian Order Castle hosts a cutting-edge interactive museum on castle history, with digital displays and two panoramic telescopes for visitors to enjoy an eagle's-eye view of the port and city. The museum also showcases fine pieces of amber discovered on archaeological digs in the region.
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Seaside Open-Air Museum
Towards the south of Ventspils beach is the Seaside Open-Air Museum, with a collection of fishing craft, anchors and other seafaring items. On weekends between May and October you can ride around the museum's extensive grounds on a narrow-gauge railway dating to 1916.
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National Museum of Art
Across the Esplanāde park is the National Museum of Art, where pre-WWII Russian and Latvian art is on display among the Soviet grandeur of ruched net curtains, marble columns and red carpets.
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Museum of the History of Rīga & Navigation
The Museum of the History of Rīga & Navigation is in a cloister next to Dome Cathedral. The gruesome mummified hand of a criminal and the 16th-century executioner's sword are highlights.
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Jewish Community Centre
The Jewish community centre shares a building with the 'Jews in Latvia Museum', which recounts Latvian Jewish history from the 16th century to 1945.
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Talsi District Museum
Above the mound, local history is documented at the Talsi District Museum. The museum is in a baronial manor dating to 1880.
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Rīga Castle
In Old Town's northeast corner, medieval Rīga Castle now houses the president and a couple of museums.
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Museum of Agriculture Machinery
South of town, the Museum of Agriculture Machinery exhibits tractors from the 19th and 20th centuries.
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War Museum
The violent history of this tiny nation is depicted in photos and war relics at the War Museum.
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War Museum
The violent history of this tiny nation is depicted in photos and war relics at the War Museum.
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National Museum of Art
Across the Esplanāde park is the National Museum of Art, where pre-WWII Russian and Latvian art is on display among the Soviet grandeur of ruched net curtains, marble columns and red carpets.
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