Ventspils (Latvian:[ˈvæntspils]ⓘ) is a state city in northwesternLatvia in the historicalCourland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country.
At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906.[4] It is situated on theVenta River and theBaltic Sea, and has anice-free port. The city's name literally means "castle on the Venta", referring to theLivonian Order's castle built alongside the Venta River.
Ventspils was historically known asWindau inGerman.
It had aRussian name from the time of theRussian Empire, calledВиндава (Vindava) orВиндау (Vindau), althoughВентспилс (Ventspils) has been used since World War II.
Some other names for the city includeLivonian:Vǟnta,Estonian:Vindavi, andPolish:Windawa.
As part of theDuchy of Courland, Ventspils blossomed as a shipbuilding centre. 44 warships and 79 trading ships were built in the town, and it was from Ventspils that theDuke's fleet set out tocolonizeGambia andTobago. Metal, amber, and wood-working shops also became important to the city's development.
Wehrmacht soldiers and German civilians fleeing advance of Red Army, 1944
It was not until about 1850 that shipbuilding and trade became important again. The port was modernized in the 1890s and connected to Moscow by rail. It became one of Imperial Russia's most profitable ports, by 1913 turning a yearly profit of 130 million rubles. The population soared as well, growing from 7,000 in 1897, to 29,000 in 1913.
During the German occupation from 1915 to 1919, the population decreased almost by half, though some returned home during the First Republic of Latvia (1918–1940).
In 1939,[citation needed] theRed Army established a base in Ventspils. DuringWorld War II, the city was underSoviet occupation from 1940, and then underGerman occupation from 1941 to 1944. Under Soviet rule, an oil pipeline was built to Ventspils, and became the USSR's leading port in crude oil export. Thirty kilometres (19 miles) north of Ventspils is the ex-Sovietradioastronomy installationVIRAC (Ventspils Starptautiskais radioastronomijas centrs orVentspils International Radio Astronomy Centre). The existence of theCentrs was unknown to most Latvians until 1994. After independence, the Latvian government began a city-beautification process to make the city more attractive to tourists.
In 2004, Ventspils was a host city for a multi-national (United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden, Russia, Latvia, Denmark, Finland, Norway) naval exercise calledBaltic Operations XXXIII (BALTOPS). The force was led by theguided missile cruiserUSSAnzio and the destroyerUSS Cole. The US vessels were the first American warships to visit the port of Ventspils since Latvian independence was declared.
Ventspils is in the transition zone between anoceanic climate and ahumid continental climate (Cfb andDfb in theKöppen climate classification) with winters just below freezing point and warm summers. Ventspils holds the national record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Latvia with 37.8 °C (100.0 °F) on 4 August 2014.[5][6]
Climate data for Ventspils (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1873−present)
At the beginning of 2017, Ventspils had an official population of 39,447 (54.3% of them were women compared with 45.7% men).
63% of Ventspilspopulation (24,762 people) are 15–62 years old, 14.3% (5,647 people) are 0–14 years old, and 22.6% (8,877 people) are 62 years and over.
Ventspils is situated at the mouth of theVenta River, where it empties into theBaltic Sea, and is an importantice-free port. Large amounts ofoil and other mineral resources fromRussia are loaded aboard ships at Ventspils.Ventspils Airport, one of the three international airports in Latvia, is located in the city.Ventspils High Technology Park provides infrastructure and services to IT and electronics companies.
Every winter Ventspils hosts the awarding ceremony of the Latvian Radio broadcastMusical Bank and the televised national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. On the second weekend of July theSea Festival takes place, and on the first weekend of August there is an annual city festival for the city birthday. FestivalsGhetto games andVakara pastaiga are popular.
There are several institutions taking responsibility for the cultural life of Ventspils, including:
The Theatre House "Juras varti" presents professional performing arts of various genres.
The Ventspils Museum is engaged in the research and the recording of the history of Ventspils. It writes the Ventspils City Chronicle, builds up the collections of the museum and carries out scientific work.
The Ventspils Library is a municipal, cultural, educational, and information institution.
The International Writers and Translators' House is an international centre for writers and translators.
Ventspils has a well developed sports infrastructure. One of the most popular sporting facility in Ventspils is theOlympic Centre 'Ventspils' offering a basketball hall, ice hall, track-and-field arena, and football stadiums. One can also enjoy theWater Adventure Park,Seaside Aqua-Park, andAdventure Park that turns into aSkiing Hill 'Lemberga hūte during the winter.
The city has abasketballteam that has won the Latvian championship in the last several years. In the 2001/2002 season, the team took third place in theNorth European Basketball League (NEBL). Ventspils also has afootball team inFK Ventspils who compete in theVirsliga. In the 2006 season the team has won the Latvian championship for the first time.
Ventspils has an Adventure Park (Latvian: Piedzīvojumu parks) that consists of Tube Sliding Track, Airsoft Shooting Range, Bumper boats, Trampoline Complex, Trampoline with Rubber Ribbons, Mad Rotor, Catapult, Trampoline boat, Playhouse for children, Inflatable Attractions in the summer.
In the winter you can go skiing, snowboarding and sledding.
There is also a rodeo track (Latvian: Rodeļu trase) which is available to use all year round
Tourism
Ventspils has a600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)narrow-gauge train; a beach and dunes and an observatory with a telescope and digital planetarium.
Ventspils developed rapidly as a commercial harbour in the years of growth of Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. The most active building works took place in the vicinity of the present Market Square where a number of former storehouses from the 17th century are preserved. A dwelling house at the crossing of Tirgus and Skolas Streets is one of the oldest houses of such type in Latvia (built in 1646).
Next to the Market Square, in a historical school building on Skolas street, there is the Ventspils House of the Crafts (2007). The International Writers’ and Translators’ House (2006) was opened on the premises of the former City Hall (1850), on the City-Hall Square. The building is reconstructed to accommodate creative work and everyday needs of its writers. Located next to it are the recently renovated Ventspils Central Library (2006) and Evangelic-Lutheran Church of Nicholas (1835). The City-Hall Square, the Market Square and the Ostas Street Promenade are popular walking places.
