RIGA (Reuters) - Latvian Jews, the country's president and prime minister and other officials attended on Wednesday the ceremonial re-opening of the sole synagogue in the country's capital after a two-year renovation.
The synagogue, in the historic Old Town, was the only one in Riga to survive the Holocaust and was one of the only ones to continue to work in the territory of the former Soviet Union.
It was built in 1905 and the restoration, begun in 2007, aimed at restoring the dilapidated building to as close as possible to the original design.
Showing posts with label Latvia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Latvia. Show all posts
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Latvia -- Riga Synagogue Rededicated
The great synagogue in Riga, Latvia has been re-opened after a full restoration with a high-profile ceremony. The dedication is the first of ceremonies honoring three landmark synagogues in Europe in the space of a couple of weeks. Following the Riga ceremonies, there will be events marking the 150th anniversary of the Dohany St. Synagogue in Budapest on Sept. 6, followed by major events in Sofia, Bulgaria on Sept. 9 marking the 100th anniversary of the great synagogue there, and the completion of years of restoration work.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Latvia - Sun City, A Hobbit Dwelling Place
Latvian millionaire started near the town of Cesis (Latvia) a fantastic project.
He purchased over 3000 hectares of wild forest, a terrain rich in hills and water. And that's how this spectacular "Sun City" was built. When I look at the pictures, it reminds me of Hobbit Village from Tolkien's "Lord of The Rings". The area is full of lush green nature, serenity seems built into the landscape.
If you want to live at Sun City (which is as away from the concept of "Sin City" as possible), there are special rules to go by, including a routine different from a common life.
First, three-storey houses are made of environmentally friendly materials constructed in a manner, which takes the terrain into account. The specific design of the houses makes the windows of each house not visible to other houses.
Secondly, near each of the 300 houses there is a small lake and forest, all of it included in cost of land (from 0,4 to 1,3 ha each).
Thirdly, all houses are equipped with central sewer (there is a special equipment laid under the roots of pine and fir trees!), High-speed Internet, electricity, and each house has a geothermal heat pump with borehole 90-100m deep, which converts the energy of the earth into the heat. The amound of heat produced is enough to provide enough energy to heat the house (and water) all year round. The need for using additional traditional firewood heating may only occur during some severe winter days. Of course, a fireplace is also available in every home. Additionally, garbage collection and other urban amenities are also available.
Fourth, in this unique forest city, there are some more special rules - for example, it is forbidden to build a fence and have a guard dog (even if it's a chain dog). Dogs are allowed only in the houses. The reason for this rule is because of roe deer and other wild animals roaming freely in this "city", and barking dogs simply would chase them away.
For the Russian and Belarusian consumers, owner of Sun City offers special conditions - the sale of land with the house and unique postal address, the plot can be issued as a "production area" This entitles those customers to having a year-round "Schengen area" (very handy for those businessmen, who have their companies outside the EU).
Just an example for land and house pricing: plot Tilbites with a three-story house which includes all the necessary amenities, and also has a lake and forest area of 0.44 ha costs as much as 94000 Euros. The design of each house is unique, there are no identical buildings in there.
The Sun City lies in Cesis, about 80 km from Riga, the Latvian Capital City (about 50mins by car).
LINKS:
The "Sun City" website: http://www.amatciems.lv/rus/ideja.html
More information and source pictures: http://ochag7.narod.ru/351.htm
He purchased over 3000 hectares of wild forest, a terrain rich in hills and water. And that's how this spectacular "Sun City" was built. When I look at the pictures, it reminds me of Hobbit Village from Tolkien's "Lord of The Rings". The area is full of lush green nature, serenity seems built into the landscape.
If you want to live at Sun City (which is as away from the concept of "Sin City" as possible), there are special rules to go by, including a routine different from a common life.
First, three-storey houses are made of environmentally friendly materials constructed in a manner, which takes the terrain into account. The specific design of the houses makes the windows of each house not visible to other houses.
Secondly, near each of the 300 houses there is a small lake and forest, all of it included in cost of land (from 0,4 to 1,3 ha each).
Thirdly, all houses are equipped with central sewer (there is a special equipment laid under the roots of pine and fir trees!), High-speed Internet, electricity, and each house has a geothermal heat pump with borehole 90-100m deep, which converts the energy of the earth into the heat. The amound of heat produced is enough to provide enough energy to heat the house (and water) all year round. The need for using additional traditional firewood heating may only occur during some severe winter days. Of course, a fireplace is also available in every home. Additionally, garbage collection and other urban amenities are also available.
Fourth, in this unique forest city, there are some more special rules - for example, it is forbidden to build a fence and have a guard dog (even if it's a chain dog). Dogs are allowed only in the houses. The reason for this rule is because of roe deer and other wild animals roaming freely in this "city", and barking dogs simply would chase them away.
For the Russian and Belarusian consumers, owner of Sun City offers special conditions - the sale of land with the house and unique postal address, the plot can be issued as a "production area" This entitles those customers to having a year-round "Schengen area" (very handy for those businessmen, who have their companies outside the EU).
Just an example for land and house pricing: plot Tilbites with a three-story house which includes all the necessary amenities, and also has a lake and forest area of 0.44 ha costs as much as 94000 Euros. The design of each house is unique, there are no identical buildings in there.
The Sun City lies in Cesis, about 80 km from Riga, the Latvian Capital City (about 50mins by car).
LINKS:
The "Sun City" website: http://www.amatciems.lv/rus/ideja.html
More information and source pictures: http://ochag7.narod.ru/351.htm
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Jewish Heritage -- New Resources
Old Jewish Cemetery, Roudnice nad Labem, CZ. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen GruberThe Bratislava Seminar provided the opportunity for representatives of various countries to present new printed or web resources on Jewish heritage, and in particular new maps, brochures and other material related to Jewish tourism and itineraries.
I try to keep track of these, but I generally can't keep up with the amount of material being published.
I have listed some of the web resources that were highlighted at the conference in the links list and travel resources list on this blog.
Other material presented includes:
-- Jewish Sights in the Usti Region (Czech Republic)
A very elaborate package of high-quality illustrated brochure, CD and DVD detailing Jewish sights in northern Czech Republic, including Decin, Libochovice, Louny, Most, Roudnice nad Labem, Teplice, Terezin, Ustek, and Zatec. In all these places, Jewish heritage sites have been restored or are undergoing restoration as part of local heritage. The material was written by my old friend Jaroslav Klenovsky, one of the pioneers of Jewish heritage research in CZ, and produced with funding from the EU and Usti regional authorities.-- "Permanent Yiddishkeit" -- Jewish Heritage Map of Belarus
Jaroslav was one of several Czech representatives at the Bratislava meeting. The Czech Jewish community, through its Matana property management organization, has been a leader in developing -- and implementing -- a viable longterm strategy in Jewish heritage site preservation and management. This has included forging partnerships with local civic and private bodies as well a foreign donors, and working out a strategy of restoration of Jewish sites for cultural use including Jewish museums. In addition, numerous publications have been issued. (By the way, I linked in a recent post to a downloadable new brochure guide on Czech Jewish heritage put out by the Czech Tourism Office. Since then, the link seems to have been removed, though the brochure still exists in print... the Czech Tourism web site now had a page with links to several Jewish sites around the county -- click HERE.)
-- Jewish Latvia -- Travel Guide
-- Slovak Jewish Heritage Route -- new brochures
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Article on Synagogue in Ludza (Lutsin) Latvia
For those who read Italian, the journalist Paolo Rumiz has a colorful piece in La Repubblica about the synagogue in Ludza, latvia, once known in Yiddish as Lutsin. Paolo specializes in lengthy travel stories that weave in history, politics and culture.
La sinagoga dei destini alternati
di PAOLO RUMIZ
Questa è la storia di una sinagoga che un giorno fu trasformata in stalla da uomini bestiali in divisa. Le bestie dichiararono "alieni" la gente che la popolava, la uccisero e la seppellirono nei boschi. Ma un giorno la stalla tornò a ospitare uomini pii e divenne luogo di festa, musica e allegria.
Read full story
Sergei Kravtsov wrote about the synagogue in his survey of synagogues in Latvia, carried out for the Center for Jewish Art.
La sinagoga dei destini alternati
di PAOLO RUMIZ
Questa è la storia di una sinagoga che un giorno fu trasformata in stalla da uomini bestiali in divisa. Le bestie dichiararono "alieni" la gente che la popolava, la uccisero e la seppellirono nei boschi. Ma un giorno la stalla tornò a ospitare uomini pii e divenne luogo di festa, musica e allegria.
Read full story
Sergei Kravtsov wrote about the synagogue in his survey of synagogues in Latvia, carried out for the Center for Jewish Art.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Wooden Synagogue in Latvia endangered
I missed the posting last month on Sam Gruber's blog about the wooden synagogue in Subate, a town in western Latvia, that is in danger of collapse, but it is important to spread this information, so I am linking to the post here.
This simple little synagogue, along with a score of others elsewhere in Latvia and Lithuania (maybe elsewhere?) are the only surviving examples of the sometimes magnificent wooden synagogues that one stood in eastern Europe. See a summary of Sergey Kratsov's Survey of Synagogues in Latvia for the Center for Jewish Art here.
In it, Sergey reports that out of 280 synagogues in Latvia before World War II, only 43 still exist. The good news is that the so-called Green Synagogue in Rezekne, the best-preserved of the country's wooden synagogues, is under "thorough conservation" sponsored by Latvian authorities and the World Monuments Fund.
This simple little synagogue, along with a score of others elsewhere in Latvia and Lithuania (maybe elsewhere?) are the only surviving examples of the sometimes magnificent wooden synagogues that one stood in eastern Europe. See a summary of Sergey Kratsov's Survey of Synagogues in Latvia for the Center for Jewish Art here.
In it, Sergey reports that out of 280 synagogues in Latvia before World War II, only 43 still exist. The good news is that the so-called Green Synagogue in Rezekne, the best-preserved of the country's wooden synagogues, is under "thorough conservation" sponsored by Latvian authorities and the World Monuments Fund.
