Kolka

The north-western tip of Latvia around Cape Kolka (Kolkas rags) offers some of the most ruggedly beautiful and unspoilt scenery in the country. It is also interesting for a sadder reason as the last refuge for the dying Livonian nation.

During the Soviet era, the area was a restricted military zone and further damage was done to the nation as the people, traditionally fisherman, were forced to find work in larger ports. However, the same policies may have helped preserve the unique beauty of the area from modern development. The Latvian government decided this was a good thing in 1991 by declaring the Livonian coast, 14 villages stretching from Purciems, 11km south of Kolka, to Luzna, 49km south-west, to be a protected area. No hotels or restaurants are allowed to be built here.

Cape Kolka

A two hour drive along the coast road north-west of Riga brings you to Kolka. In the town, you can buy traditional platmaize bread at the grocery store at the southern entrance. Next door is the Ruta restaurant, open 12:00 - 01:00 and not too bad, and a hotel upstairs with 13 doubles for 20 Ls including breakfast, and one luxury double for 40Ls. All rooms have their own shower, toilet, minibar and TV. Turn right past the disused radar tower and park your car then take a short walk down to Cape Kolka, where you can witness the meeting of the Gulf of Riga and the Baltic Sea. A sign warns that swimming is dangerous in the middle of the confluence, but a little further away its OK, apparently the water on the Gulf side is warmer. There is a futuristic orange sculpture of the sun at the tip advertising Kolka as 'the cross-point of Europe'.
Following the dirt road to the south-west are several villages which, with their simple wooden houses, seem virtually untouched by the 20th century. Some of the prettiest include Pitrags, Vaide, and Kosrags

History

When German crusaders founded Riga in 1201 they did so at the site of several Livonian fishing villages on the banks of the Daugava. During the opening ceremony of the Baltica folklore festival in the Latvian capital in 1997 the participants from many countries had to pass through a symbolic gate guarded by Livonian cultural activist Helvija Stalte before 'entering' the city.
Because of a low birth rate and the plagues and wars of many centuries, the Livonians gradually became extinct everywhere except the north-west. Within living memory, Midsummer's Eve on the sandy beaches was marked in the traditional way by burning fishing boats on the sandy beaches, according to living Livonians. 

There are only about 20 native speakers left, another 10 young people who have learnt the tongue of their ancestors, and about 100 who choose to have Livonian listed as their nationality in their Latvian passports. Since the restoration of independence academic interest in the language has increased and in 1996 the University of Latvia joined institutions in Estonia and Finland by offering Livonian as a subject for study. A Finnish documentary film called "The Last of the Livonians" was made a few years ago.

Lodging & Eating

the Ruta restaurant, open 12:00 - 01:00 and not too bad, and a hotel upstairs with 13 doubles for 20 Ls including breakfast, and one luxury double for 40Ls. All rooms have their own shower, toilet, minibar and TV.

Kolka in your pocket