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MY VILLAGE KALUPE E XPERIENCE 2017
JĀNIS ROZENTĀLS: YOUR TOUR PLANNING EXPERT
KALUPE EXPERIENCE
1. Narrow– gauge railroad The land, where is my family home, once belonged to Earl Jan Plater– Zyberk. Near my house there is a birch grove and a dike. Now it is overgrown but still visible. My Dad told me that long time ago there was a narrow– gauge railroad from Špoģi to Nīcgale or Līvāni. Bricks from a brickyard, which was on the other coast of Kalupe lake, were carried by a horse train. Later the Earl bought a steam locomotive. These bricks were used to build Kalupe church.
Author: J. Rozentāls
KALUPE EXPERIENCE
2. Kalupe Church When the Earl’s daughter died, she drowned in the lake, the Earl decided to build a Romanesque church. It looks mournful and has a shape of a cross but no towers just a metal cross on the frontage. The bricks were made in specially built brick yard and carried along the narrow– gauge railroad. On each brick a word Kолупь can be read. The church has three bells, the biggest weights about 400 kg.
Bricks
KALUPE EXPERIENCE
3. Lāčukrogs 300 meters from my house there is a bridge across the river Kalupe. Once there was an enormously huge mansion where landlord Soms lived. He had a pub. I heard a story that Earl Plater– Zyberk invited a circus from St Petersburg to Višķi. This miracle (the circus) performed and entertained people in Nīcgale and Višķi and travelled by narrow– gauge railroad. The circus stopped at the landlord Soms’s place, the bears were placed in the barn where they had been relaxing for a week. So this place got the name Lāčukrogs (Bear pub).
Author: J. Rozentāls
KALUPE EXPERIENCE 4. Grancova linden alley It is a natural monument. The linden trees were planted during the reign of Queen Catherine II. More than 10 trees are considered to be giant trees. The alley is 650 meters long. There grow elders, maples, pine trees and larches. I found there a mistletoe too. It is in the Red Book. In Latvia mistletoe is a symbol of health, wealth and peace. In the UK and the USA, it is a symbol of Christmas.
5. Zaļā sēta (Green Court) At the end of the alley there is a path leading to the forest. Once there was a hunters' court. Lords went there to relax after the hunting. People say that the Earl himself loved that peaceful quite place. We can still see a stone pile which were used to build the house.
MAP OF KALUPE