English
Taking care of the preservation and promotion of the maritime heritage, the Freeport of Riga Authority has been working on the implementation of a large-scale digitization project of Latvia's maritime history items, structures and materials since 2020. During the first phase of the project the opportunity to virtually visit the digital exposition of maritime items as well as the legendary icebreaker “Varma “of the port of Riga was provided. Currently, regardless of location, everyone can go on a virtual tour of Miķeļbāka and Kolka lighthouse.
The Freeport of Riga provides virtual tours to all interested smartphone, tablet and computer users on its website (see Preservation of the port’s historical heritage section) https://ej.uz/digitalaekskursija.
During the development of virtual tours, the most important video, photo and printed media repositories of Latvia's cultural and historical heritage were studied. The tour includes 1937 and 1959 black and white videos from the Latvian State Archive of Audiovisual Documents of National Archives of Latvia. The video provides an opportunity to see the daily life of Kolka lighthouse employees, which is documented in all seasons. With the support of the Riga History and Navigation Museum, the virtual tour also includes a number of unique photographs of historical lighthouses, the oldest of which date back to 1914. The photographs capture the blasting of the Miķeļbāka lighthouse, the vessel “Laima”, which originally served as a floating lighthouse, and the ice-frozen Kolka lighthouse – well, such ice conditions are not common today.
Since March, the virtual exhibition has been offering exciting 360` sightseeing tours of the Latvian lighthouses. Currently everyone can go on a virtual tour of Miķeļbāka and Kolka lighthouses, and it is expected that during this year the exhibition will be supplemented by virtual tours of Daugavgrīva and Irbe lighthouses.
Miķeļbāka and Kolka lighthouses are architectural monuments of national significance, and both are prominent sites of the Baltic scale - Miķeļbāka is the highest lighthouse in the Baltics, while Kolka lighthouse is the only lighthouse in the Baltic region built on an artificial island in the sea. It is possible to go on excursions with Haralds Apogs, a researcher of maritime history, who tells visitors about the unusual and fascinating history of lighthouses in audio and video formats.
The Freeport of Riga Authority manages a total of 15 lighthouses along the coast of the Gulf of Riga. Each of the lighthouses has a noteworthy history, as well as an important role in ensuring safe navigation in the territorial waters of Latvia.
Information for media
- liene.ozola [at] rop.lv, +371 670 308 53
- Freeport of Riga Authority
- 12 Kalpaka blvd, Riga, Latvia, LV-1010
