Attractions and Places To See in Latgale - Top 20

The garden in front of the commandant's house is actually beautifully landscaped, but the decay of the many unused buildings surrounding it is depressing. Fortunately, at least some of them are in use, and some have even been restored.

The fortress as a whole is very worth seeing, even if it would deserve better use to prevent it from being left to decay.

Protestant cathedral located on a Church Hill next to Orthodox, Catholic and Old Believer churches.

The Svente mansion is a cozy mansion from the last century in which the hotel is located. It is located in the picturesque region of Daugavpils. The mansion offers its guests comfortable rooms, a cozy restaurant with gourmet cuisine. A good place to stop over.

Mark Rothko Art Centre is located in the building of the artillery arsenal (1830-1833). It is a place where the past has regained its second wind and is in step with the time, thus creating a unique place for varied creative manifestations. Some day the place was used to keep cannons, ammunition wagons and prodgy, swords and rifles, regimental colours and drums. The building is architectural monument of State significance. In the Art Centre one can see the original pieces of the worldknown artist Mark Rothko, born in Daugavpils, as well as to visit the exposition devoted to this artist. Mark Rothko (b. Marcus Rothkowitz) was born September 25, 1903. In 1913 his family emigrated to the United States of America. He is one of the most outstanding and remarkable artists of the second half of the 20th century, founder of the abstract expressionism movement. In the art centre it is also possible to visit changing personal and group exhibitions of well-known Latgalian, Latvian and foreign artists. The total surface of the exhibition halls is 2000 m2. One may visit expositions and exhibitions independently or accompanied by a guide. The tour around all art centre exhibitions takes 1 hour and 30 minutes, the tour of the A sector (M. Rothko biography and creative works) takes 45 minutes. The art centre also offers ordering tours around the fortress. Tours can be ordered by phone: +371 654 30279, +371 65430273, +371 20364226. Opening hours of Mark Rothko Art Centre: Monday – closed; Tuesday and Sunday – from 11:00 to 17:00; Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – from 11:00 to 19:00. Mihaila Street 3. +371 654 30 253 www.rotkocentrs.lv, rotkocentrs@ daugavpils.lv

Today history in the fortress territory is witnessed by historical large-calibre cannons. In these days nine old cannons can be found here: five of them are from cast-iron, while four – made from steel. They were manufactured in the second half of the 19th century in an ordnance plant in Perm and in Obukhov steel casting plant (Russia). All cannons are made with threading in a gun tube, which increased the range of a missile and improved accuracy and close pattern of shooting. Two of the cannons are placed at the main entrance of the Commandant’s house facing the fortress garden. In the very middle of the garden three cannons enrich the fountain. The steel mortar gun (bore diameter 205 mm, model of 1872) of the fortress is placed on the “Wallgang” (a protected place on the upper part of a rampart) of the main rampart curtain between the Nicholas gate and the 7th bastion – in the way how cannons were placed when the fortress switched to defence emergency. One more steel cannon with the bore diameter of 107 mm (model of 1887) on the original Venglovski gun-mount is placed at the intersection of the streets Imperatora and Konstantīna. Two steel artillery tubes were installed at Hekeļa Street 3, yet now they are moved to a warehouse belonging to the building proprietor. https://rm.coe.int/16806f5dfd

With the loss of military significance in the second half of the 19th century a garden was created in place of the former fortress square in front of the main facade of the Commandant’s house. In 1866 a fountain was erected in the centre of the garden, water to the fountain was supplied from the water tower. In 1912, while celebrating the centennial anniversary of the victory over Napoleon in 1812, an unusual monument – a fountain made from three cast-iron large-calibre cannons – was erected in the centre of the garden at the expense of the soldiers and officers of the Dvinsk fortress – warehouse. A sculpture of a two-headed eagle with its wings spread wide was rising above the cannonball placed on top of the cannons; this sculpture was lost at the outset of the World War I. The base of the monument devoted to the killed soldiers from the 10th Aizpute infantry regiment of the Latvian Army (opened in 1924) has been preserved in the garden. After the World War II the monument was considerably transformed and used as the base to Stalin’s bust. The old pergola has also been preserved. Today the shady lanes of the fortress garden are a popular resting place of fortress inhabitants and its guests. In winter the greatest open-air skating-rink in the city is made around the fountain. In summer different festivals and concerts take place here. https://rm.coe.int/16806f5dfd

The Dinaburg fortress had four gates that were named in honour of Emperor Alexander I and his brothers – grand dukes. The Nicholas gate is exposed to the bridgehead; it welcomed travellers arriving at the fortress from Europe. The gate was built from 1824 to 1827 in Neo-Gothic style. The Nicholas gate (the gate is named after the future Emperor Nicholas I) is different from other gates of the fortress in the way that it has lateral chambers on both sides of the central passageway – in tsarist days they were used as guard and prisoner rooms. In the 1920s the old wood bridge leading from the 1st coast lunette to the gate over the moat was taken down. During the Soviet times the gate was bricked up from the moat side and used to store vegetables. Gate restoration took place from October 2012 to December 2013. Using anastylosis (installation of fallen genuine elements), the attic of the external façade of the gate and the roof structure were reconstructed; gate wings of the internal façade that have been miraculously preserved as well as internal premises were reconstructed; the foundation and underground gallery removing rain and ground waters from the fortress into the moat were fixed. On façades cast-iron ornaments were renewed: representation of the coat of arms of the Imperial Russia in the stylistics of the Alexander I era, double-sided halberds (battle-axes) and the gate name in the original writing. Gate rooms are now fitted with modern lighting enabling to use them as exhibition halls. Historical foundations are currently used to bear the reconstructed 55m long and 8 m wide wood bridge that can now be used to get into the fortress from Daugavas Street. The restoration of the 1st coast lunette with corps de garde (guardroom) and barrier gate covering the way to the Nicholas gate bridge was finished in October 2014. https://rm.coe.int/16806f5dfd