Salaspils Municipality: Daugava, Dole Island and culture

Dole Island, a botanical garden and a memorial give Salaspils Municipality distinct cultural and natural features. When planning a stay, visitors can choose between nature, history, exhibitions and outdoor activities. Nature and manor history are particularly closely connected on Dole Island; other highlights, such as the botanical garden or the Salaspils Memorial, offer their own themes for a visit.

Dole Island: river landscape and manor history

Dole Island is the largest island in the Daugava. It lies in the area of the old river delta between Salaspils and Katlakalns. Rare plant species have been recorded in the island’s nature park, where rare and protected bird species also nest. The park of Dole Manor is a landscape park dating from the late 18th to early 19th century.

The Daugava Museum is housed in the New Manor House of the Dole estate complex, built in 1898. Its permanent exhibition covers the history of the Daugava and the history of Salaspils Municipality in the 19th and 20th centuries. It comprises 1,174 exhibits, including objects and physical and digital photographic copies. An orienteering course is also available on the museum grounds during opening hours.

Another glimpse into the history of life along the river can be found at the open-air farmstead “Mellupi,” which shows the authentic home of a 19th-century river fisherman. A memorial stone commemorates the victory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Duchy of Courland over Swedish forces at the Battle of Salaspils (Kircholm) on 27 September 1605.

Plant life and the memorial

The National Botanical Garden combines a distinctive focus with a practical point of reference for getting there: its entrance is directly opposite Salaspils railway station on the Riga–Daugavpils line. A spacious car park is also available to visitors on the grounds. The “Botania” Environmental Education and Information Centre features six thematic exhibitions with more than 100 topics related to plant life. A visit to the garden therefore focuses not only on individual plants, but also on different aspects of the plant world.

The exhibition at the Salaspils Memorial covers the history of the camp and the memorial, as well as the development of the memorial ensemble, which is part of Latvia’s Cultural Canon. Multimedia content includes video testimonies from former prisoners. This is a different historical focus from the manor history on Dole Island: here, the history of the camp and the development of the memorial take centre stage.

Activities and cultural programme

The municipal tourism guide for 2021/22 describes the more than 15-kilometre-long protective embankment of Riga Hydroelectric Power Plant as a popular place for walks and particularly suitable for cyclists. The same guide mentions the option of renting boats in the Dole Island Nature Park, as well as a 2.5-kilometre archery course where visitors use bows and arrows to shoot at 3D animal targets in a natural setting. Horse riding and wakeboarding in Salaspils Municipality are also listed. As operator information may change, check booking and availability in advance for these activities.

For outdoor culture, the guide lists summer open-air cinema evenings, concerts, theatre performances and art exhibitions at Ragavas Music and Art Garden. Theatre performances are also held at Salaspils Cultural Centre. The 2021/22 guide describes the Salaspils Municipality Festival as taking place annually in late May; it also mentions thousands of visitors from across Latvia. Check the dates for the relevant year if you would like to plan your stay around the festival.

On Dole Island, the family-run business “Doles Tejas” offers guests natural herbal teas and medicinal plants; the plants are grown and gathered in the island’s nature park. The 2021/22 municipal guide also lists garden tours, tours of the tea production process and tea tastings in the garden pavilion. Check booking and availability in advance for these visits.

This way, you can tailor your choices to your own travel plans without reducing the different highlights to a single visit programme.

Discover more destinations: Salaspils, Mālpils Municipality, Stopiņi Municipality, Skaistas Parish, Vecpiebalga Municipality, Strenči Municipality, Rucava Municipality, Dagda Municipality.

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