After decades of
isolation as a Soviet naval base, the dust is blowing off
the linden-tree lined streets of Latvia's third biggest
city, revealing beautiful if faded architecture and a
pulsating cultural life. The focus of the town is its
ice-free port. A trip to the former Soviet submarine base
is a bizarre but worthwhile experience, while more sedate
nautical adventures can be found along the miles of
beaches that flank the city. Culturally speaking Liepaja
is to Latvian rock what Seattle is to grunge - a
provincial centre which turns out a lot of terrific
bands. Whether you breeze in for a few hours or a few
days, a little effort to get out of Riga will reward you
with many surprises.
 Liepaja is the southernmost of
the Latvian port of entries. You find the city situated
between a lake and the Baltic Sea. Neither the city nor
the port are particularly large. The central parts of
town are dominated by small stone and wooden houses
| History
Liepaja is the third largest city
in Latvia, with a population of 93,000, is
located in the south-western side of the country,
on the Baltic Sea coast. It is first mentioned in
historic chronicles in 1253, but was officially
accorded city status in 1925. Every year on March
18 the inhabitants of Liepaja celebrate the
city's birthday. Liepaja experienced the biggest
impetus to its development at the end of the 19th
century. In 1860 Liepaja still had just over
8.000 inhabitants. In 1868 the construction of
the port of Liepaja started again and in 1876 a
Liepaja - Riga railway line was opened; the rail
line was of special importance to varied transit
shipments through the port of Liepaja. An
unprecedented rapid period of industrial and
trade development began in Liepaja.
Liepaja surpassed the port of Riga
and other competing ports in terms of the volume
of reloaded cargo and at this time the population
increased over ten times, exceeding 100,000. This
kind and speed of growth was not experienced by
any other city in Latvia.
The First World War and the new
situation in Europe put a brake on the city's
development. After the war, the population of
Liepaja decreased by half, an even though there
was noticeable economic activity and construction
in the city up to WWII, Liepaja never reached its
pre-WW l levels
The 1939 agreement with the USSR
once again changed Liepaja's geo-political
significance. The city became an USSR military
support base in the Baltic Sea basin, and all
economic activity, directly or indirectly was
linked to the social program goals of the
military base. In 1974 the population once again
reached 100,000, and by 1985 it was already 114.
000. However, the percentage of Latvians in the
city was only 38%. These specific developments in
the city's history, and the use of the port
practically only for military goals meant that
Liepaja disappeared from the world economic
turnover map.
After Latvia regained
independence, the city once again had the
possibility to develop normally. Making use of
its advantageous geographic location and the
benefits of being an ice-free port years Liepaja
went from zero to 1.6 million tons of cargo
turnover. And that is only part of the
possibilities now open to Liepaja, since even
without any special investment, the turnover can
be increased to 6 million tons annually.
|
The former naval
base
You will never find it
on your own amongst miles of abandoned concrete, but tell
a taxi driver to take you to the kara osta
(military port) or more specifically the zemudenu baze
(submarine base) for a truly bizarre sight. Amongst other
scuttled hulks are a handful of submarines, mere ghosts
of the sophisticated weapons of war they once were. On
the wall of the main submarine pen is a Russian graffiti
reading "do not climb on the ships - they're
poisoned", but don't worry. In the bomb proof
maintenance pen the Soviet navy used to change the
numbers of the boats before they went out to sea again to
fool the prying eyes of US spy satellite. The customs
officers are quite happy to show you around. The orthodox
Church, formerly a sailors' club, the palatial tsarist
era officer's club, and the bleak wilderness aura of an
abandoned, super-power naval base are worth the trip.
The naval base is now closed down. It
must have happened in a hurry. In the port you find
sunken ships which the Russian have destroyed then they
left.
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