The Great Cross-Border Route - Military Heritage of Latvia and Estonia over 100 Years

To commemorate the deportations of June 1941 and March 1949, a memorial stone and a four-axle wagon, which also serves as the museum dedicated to deportations, was erected at the Skrunda railway station. This is the first wagon-type museum in Latvia that holds a permanent exhibit of photos, letters, memoirs, documents and various items made by the people deported from the Skrunda station. Skrunda station was a location where deportees were gathered, and one of the three stations in the region to which people from the Skrunda and the Kuldīga area were brought. In 1941, the family of the first President of the restored Republic of Latvia, Guntis Ulmanis, was deported from here to Krasnoyarsk Krai in Siberia.

With the help of deportations, the Soviets dealt with supporters of the national partizans’ and at the same time intimidated the remaining rural population, forcing them to join the collective farms.

Skrunda manor has an exhibit about the Skrunda radar (Skrunda radio location station) and the activities of the Latvian Popular Front in Skrunda. The Skrunda radio location station nicknamed ‘Kombināts’ (The Plant) was a USSR missile early warning system in the western sector. Location ‘Skrunda-2’ was a special town (в/ч 18951) created 5 km from Skrunda in the direction of Kuldīga for the needs of the USSR military. The radar station Dņepr operated from here and a new, more modern station Darjal was being built. Construction was stopped and the radar station Darjal was blown up on 4 May 1995. In compliance with an international agreement the radar station Dnieper was shut down on 31 August 1998.

The Oskars Kalpaks Museum and Memorial Site Airītes is located between Saldus and Skrunda near the A9 highway. The exhibit has extensive information about Colonel Oskars Kalpaks and his battalion, and shows the history of the Latvian National Army and the memorial site Airītes. The exhibit reveals Colonel Oskars Kalpaks as a personality, as a soldier and as a fighter for Latvia's independence. Audio logs in Latvian, English and German are also available as part of the exhibit. They emphasize the importance of the historic events of 1918/1919 in the protecting the statehood of Latvia. The museum building has been restored.

Entry is free; guided tour – for a fee. The complex has a recreation area, a park, an obstacle course, it is possible to take various classes, and there is a seminar hall for up to 30 people.

The "Officers' Kurgan" is located less than a kilometre from the ruins of Zvārde Church. The Kurgan is made of the ruins and remains of the surrounding houses and manor house, which have been bulldozed together. An observation tower was built on the kurgan. According to the inscription, the present tower was built in 1981. The tower was used to record bomb hits. The training bombs had a reduced explosive content, so their hits had to be watched more carefully. Unexploded bombs were neutralized immediately, but not all could be found.

 The remains of the tower can be seen here today - the brick walls. As the barrage is relatively high, you can even see the Lithuanian oil refinery in Mažeikiai on a clear day.

The exhibit in the Olaine History and Art Museum is about the period of Soviet occupation in Olaine. A World War I exploration route with restored elements of the fortifications has been created in the territory of the museum. On the site, where the World War I Russian Army defence line once was, a Russian soldier-type dugout has been built and a fragment of a shooting tower can be viewed by visitors. A World War I reinforced concrete fortification can be seen in Jaunolaine, at the intersection to Plakanciems. During World War I, active battles were fought between the Russian and German armies in this area. Latvian Riflemen units were involved in intelligence and various other operations. Marshy lands made it difficult to defend, but this was a very important area in Latvian military history. Olaine was formed due to the convenient location between Jelgava and Riga, where Jaunolaine is currently located. The Olaine manor was nearby. The modern day Olaine was built during the Soviet occupation, when industrial companies began their operations there.

Skrunda Manor is located on the bank of the River Venta, on the side of the Riga-Liepāja highway. The manor restaurant uses products grown in Latvia and produced by local farmers, offering its guests to taste original local dishes, such as carp croquettes with homemade rhubarb mayonnaise, pork belly with birch leaf syrup and celery, and a selection of ice cream made in the manor.

The "Magdalena" café is in the centre of Saldus.

Latvian cuisine: Sauerkraut, dumpling, beet, sorrel and cold kefir soup, potato pancakes, crepes, sautéed pork ribs, homemade steak haché, farmers’ treats, oatmeal cream, stacked oatmeal or rye bread.

The "Dzirnavinas" café is along the Rīga-Liepāja highway (A9) at the 67th km road marker. Travellers love to stop here for lunch.

Latvian cuisine: Sorrel soup, marinated herring with cottage cheese, “Countryside Feast” (potatoes, eggs, smoked meat, marinated pickles), pork steak haché, Kurzeme stroganoff, sautéed sauerkraut with hunter’s sausages, barley porridge with meat, rye bread cream, bread soup with whipped cream.

The bar is in Tirgus Square in the historical centre of Dobele, offering Latvian cuisine and Tērvete beer, which is brewed from Latvian ingredients. A summer terrace is open during the season.

Latvian cuisine: Cold soup, grey peas with bacon, Tērvete steak haché, Tērvete leg of pork.

Special foods: Tērvete cheesecake.