"geležinė uždanga"
IV Sovietų okupacija, Atkurta Nepriklausomybė

The restored fire control tower of the 46th Coast Guard Battery in Ventspils is located on Saulrieta street and is available to visitors in the form of an observation tower. There are four artillery gun positions near the tower and it is the only World War II coastal defence battery in Latvia in such a good condition. Visitors can take the tower stairs to an outdoor viewing platform overlooking the sea. An information stand with a QR code is available next to the tower. You can use the QR to watch an animation about historical events. There is a new street leading to the tower, a large parking lot and a wooden footbridge that crosses the protected nature area next to the tower.

The first coastal defence batteries for the defence of the Irbe Strait were built after 1912, when the Baltic Fleet Mine-Artillery Defence Position Plan was approved, which included several coastal defence batteries and sea mine-laying.

The Irbe Strait position was the furthest south, and its task was to block any enemy access to the Gulf of Riga. The main emphasis was on sea mines, tens of thousands of which were laid in...

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.

Located in Līgatne parish, Cēsis municipality, the Soviet Secret Bunker lies 9 metres below the Līgatne Rehabilitation Centre building and its adjacent territory. The bunker is open to visitors and offers guided tours, meals in the bunker canteen, Soviet-style parties and the reality game Object X. The purpose of the bunker was to provide the minimum necessary conditions for long-term work for the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR, the leadership of the Communist Council of the LSSR and the management of the LSSR state planning committee in the event of a nuclear war threat. The 2,000-square-metre underground bunker was the strongest autonomous structure with all the required and most state-of-the-art equipment of the time, and also one of the...

The former Soviet Army Missile Base is located in Medņukalni, Zeltiņi parish, Alūksne municipality. This nuclear missile base was a particularly secret military facility of the Soviet Army, and it operated in Zeltiņi, Alūksne municipality, from 1961 to 1989. The facility housed P-12 (8K63) and P12Y (8K63Y) surface-to-surface medium-range ballistic missiles with 4 launch pads. Their travel distance was 2,200 kilometres. During this period the army used barbed-wire to secure an area of about 300 ha less than a kilometre from the Sinole-Silakrogs P34 national regional highway. The living and top-secret areas have remained a legacy even today. Concrete roads lead to places hidden from the eye at that time: hangars, launch pads and bomb shelters. Various...

Located in Salacgriva, NE direction, 1 km from the bridge over Salaca.

The Soviet Army military base in Salacgrīva is one of the former sites of the occupation troops. An air defense unit was located in Salacgriva. It was relatively small and became the first military unit to leave Latvia in 1992. During this time, large-scale looting of Latvia took place, when the Latvian state gave in to Russia's demands that the occupying army leave the territory as soon...

The exhibit is located in the former culture house of Aizkraukle parish. It reflects the everyday social, recreational, professional, educational and cultural life in Soviet times, as well as the history of how Aizkraukle (during Soviet times – Stučka) and the Pļaviņu HPP came to be. Visitors can view the ‘Red Corner’ with its historical propaganda materials, the office of a party functionary and a typical Soviet apartment with a living room, kitchen, bathroom and toilet and their corresponding attributes. Some rooms are dedicated to Soviet medicine, tourism and sports as well as repression tactics. There is a spacious hall in the centre of the exhibit for Soviet-made vehicles. This was started in 2016 by the Aizkraukle History and Art Museum by setting up the...

After the Second World War, Latvia had various prohibitions in border and coastal areas. From 19 June 1945, fishermen were assigned piers, which were fenced off with barbed wire, guarded by patrols and watchtowers. On 4 September 1946, the prohibited coast guard zones on the Western border of the LSSR were introduced.

In Jūrmalci village there is a former border guard control post, a tower and a tractor proudly rocking on the beach! How it got there is something to ask the local guides!

The landfill's service base is located approximately 2 kilometres east of Striķu Manor, on the Saldus-Auce road. The former Soviet Military Aviation Target Range (military unit No 15439) in Zvārde is located south of Saldus. The territory of the airfield is home to several sights - the ruins of Zvārde and Ķerkliņi churches, the ruined Rīteļi cemetery, the observation post of the airfield, the so-called "Officers' Kurgan" and the former airfield personnel base and shooting range "Lapsas".

The Akmeņrags Lighthouse is located in Saka parish, 10 kilometres southwest of Pāvilosta. The top of the lighthouse can be reached by a spiral staircase and it offers views of the sea and the surrounding forests. Standing at 37 metres high, the current lighthouse tower was built in 1921, while the previous lighthouse was destroyed during World War I.

The Akmeņrags Lighthouse stands out among other lighthouses in Latvia, as it is located in one of the most dangerous places for sailing in the entire Baltic Sea coast. The signal beam of the...

During the Soviet era, a border guard unit was located here, other Soviet army units - liaison officers and a surface-to-air missile base were located several kilometres away in the forest. After independence, the Latvian army was stationed there.

The former Soviet army military base is now a recreation, leisure and camping centre - for personal development in interaction with nature and the people around. 

The former Soviet Army town is located in Mežgarciems, Ādaži municipality, near the P1 highway. It was a small town inhabited by the air defence units of the Soviet Army and used as a military training base. Informative stands have been placed near the town. The former army base area is available to visitors. Mežgarciems did not exist on the maps during the Soviet occupation. And there was nothing to suggest that there was a small town built for the Soviet military with air defence capabilities. Wide-spread construction of Soviet Army stations was rapidly started in the territory of Latvia after World War II. And these army bases were like separate states within the country. There were military units almost in every location in Latvia. An especially...

Ilgiausias Latvijoje – Šiaurinis molas – pastatytas XIX amžiaus pabaigoje kaip labai svarbi Liepojos jūrų tvirtovės ir karinio uosto dalis. Prieplaukos ilgis – 1800 metrų, plotis – 7,35 metro.

Šiaurinis molas yra vienas iš pirmųjų imperatoriaus Aleksandro III uosto statinių, pastatytų 1890–1892 metais prieš Karostos kanalo kasimą. Kartu su Šiaurės molu, Pietų molu ir Pietiniu molas sudarė Liepojos forpostą...

Named ‘Pāvilosta, a Closed Area’, the exhibit in the Pāvilosta Local History Museum is about everyday life in the town of Pāvilosta during the Soviet occupation; specifically, about the executive branch, border area, fishermen’s collective farm, and the cultural and social activities. In addition to the permanent exhibit, there is an interactive and emotionally rich digital exhibit in two languages and an audio-visual installation offering a film about Pāvilosta.

Mērsrags Lighthouse is located in the Mērsrags village, about 1 km north of the village centre. The lighthouse was put into commission in 1875. It is an 18.5 m tall freestanding, cylindrical, riveted iron tower, the lower part of which has been fortified with reinforced concrete counterforts. The height of the signal light is 21.3 m. At the top all around the tower there is an iron balcony supported by consoles. The lighthouse tower was made by Sotera, Lemonier & Co in Paris, so this lighthouse is commonly known as the ‘Frenchie’. At the end of 1944, the 1003rd Artillery Division Battery of the German Army with 60 cm spotlights was located right next to the lighthouse. In May 1945, the Nazi Germany high command planned to move the 15th Latvian SS...

The bridge named after Oskaras Kalpaka is Liepāja's gateway to the Karosta and is located at the meeting point of Oskaras Kalpaka and Atmodas Street - across the Karosta Canal.

The unique swing bridge was opened on 19 August 1906. The bridge was blown up during World War I, but was rebuilt after the war. The bridge was rebuilt again after it was damaged by the steamship Narne in 1926, but it also suffered during World War II when the invading Soviet army shelled the port of Liepaja. Until the restoration of independence of the Republic of Latvia, the...

250 metres south-west of Battery 6 is the Monument to Fishermen and Sailors, with a plaque to the US Navy PB4Y-2 Privateer scout plane shot down off Liepaja on 8 April 1950. The aircraft, nicknamed Turbulent Turtle, was part of Patrol Squadron 26 and took off from Wiesbaden airfield in the early hours of 8 April and, via Copenhagen, set off on a surveillance and possibly radio reconnaissance mission. According to the order, the aircraft could not approach closer than 20 nautical miles to the Kurland coast, but for some unknown reason it flew into the USSR's self-defined 12 nautical mile zone. Two La-11s of the Soviet 30th Guards Fighter Regiment intercepted and shot down the unarmed reconnaissance aircraft. The fate of the 10-strong crew of the...

Mazirbe, historically known as the largest Liv centre, is notable for the only fishermen's boat cemetery on the Latvian coast. It was built in the 1960s, the last boats were brought in 1976. The boats ended up here as a result of both fishing restrictions and age.

Today, Mazirbe has less than ten wrecks of fishing boats, but historically there have been many more. Boats have been laid to rest in other seaside villages, but it is in Mazirbe's boat...

Paplak Regiment. Barta - South, Barta - North. The base has been destroyed by man and nature. The buildings are taken back by the forest, the missile transport trucks and the missile hangars themselves are demolished. The communication centre has also been destroyed and most of the metal launch platforms have been dismantled. 

According to official information, the following Soviet army units were located in the municipality of Barta:

The rangefinder (dated 1954) is located in the pines of a dune 10m away from the 1941 rangefinder. The gun positions of the 1st and 2nd guns of the shore battery are located on the seafront and partially eroded, while the gun position of the 4th gun is best seen in the dunes.

Liepaja Fortress Battery 2 was planned to be built further from the shoreline and protected by a high rampart. The armament of the battery was to be 16 11-inch (280 mm) mortars of the 1877...

No military infrastructure was planned in Cape Kolka, except for several offshore lighthouses that were rebuilt over a long period of time, either before World War I, during World War I or during World War II. Coastal defence batteries were planned for the narrowest part of the Irbe Strait, between the Sirves Peninsula and the Michael Tower Lighthouse.

The only fortifications of a military nature appeared at the end of 1944, when the German Army Group North was preparing to repel possible landings by the Soviet Baltic Fleet. In the spring of...

After the airfield was established in this area in 1953 at the request of the USSR Ministry of Defence, the Zvārde Church, the Ķerkliņi Church and the Rīteļi Cemetery were actually located in the centre of the airfield - next to an artificial airfield with access roads and defence positions, which was used as a target by Soviet pilots. Planes flew here from airfields in Latvia and elsewhere in the Soviet Union. In less than 40 years, the church, the cemetery, the former manor house and dozens of surrounding buildings were reduced to ruins. Today, the site is cared for by the Saldus Martin Luther Church. The surrounding area is still contaminated with unexploded ordnance and it can be dangerous to walk off the roads.

1962 m. veiklą Plokštinės miškuose (Plungės r.) pradėjo vienas pirmųjų Sovietų Sąjungoje požeminis balistinių raketų R-12 paleidimo kompleksas „Dvina“.

Už 0,5 km nuo raketų paleidimo bazės įkurtas karinis miestelis. 12 ha teritorijoje buvo pastatyta apie 30 įvairios paskirties pastatų: gyvenamieji namai (kareivinės), karininkų štabas, 2 valgyklos, katilinė, elektrinė, medicinos punktas, klubas, kiaulių ferma, sandėliai, garažai ir kiti statiniai.

1962 m. gruodžio 31 d. veiklą Plokštinės miškuose (Plungės r.) pradėjo vienas pirmųjų Sovietų Sąjungoje požeminis balistinių raketų R-12 paleidimo kompleksas „Dvina“.

Nuo 1963 iki 1978 m. komplekse buvo dislokuotos 4 vidutinio nuotolio balistinės raketos R12 (SS-4 Sandal), apginkluotos 2,3 megatonų galios termobranduolinėmis galvutėmis. Visos raketos buvo nutaikytos į Vakarų Europos šalis. Šis kompleksas kartu su antžeminėmis analogiškų raketų paleidimo bazėmis sudarė bendrą sovietinės branduolinės ginkluotės grupuotę Lietuvoje, kuri...

Plungės rajone, abipus Šateikių miestelio, esančiuose miškų masyvuose, 1960 m. pastatyta Šateikių antžeminė vidutinio nuotolio raketų paleidimo bazė. Viena iš 4 tokio tipo bazių, veikusių Lietuvoje.

Bazėje buvo įrengtos keturių R-12, R-12U (SS-4 Sandal) vidutinio nuotolio balistinių raketų (vienos populiariausių SSRS) antžeminės paleidimo aikštelės. Šateikių girios karinio dalinio...

Kiek atokiau nuo Šiaulių miesto, Zapalskių kaime yra išlikusi požeminė TSRS kariuomenės raketinė bazė ir raketinio kuro saugykla.

1955 m. pradėta statyti Zapalskių karinė bazė, dažnai vadinama Šiaulių branduoliniu arsenalu arba oficialiai – 1893-ąja ПРТБ, ėmė veikti apie 1960 m. Bazė turėjusi strateginę reikšmę – ji buvo sujungta su Zoknių kariniu oro uostu betoniniu keliu, kuriuo gabenamos branduolinių raketų galvutės buvo paskirstomos po visą Lietuvos TSR.