Livani – Latvia

The act of Partnership was signed: 21.07.2012 r.

Livani is a Latvian city with nearly 10,000 citizens. It is located in central Latvia, at the confluence of the Dubna and Daugava rivers, approx. 170 km East of the capital – Riga. Riga is the gate to a truly beautiful geographical region of Latvia – the Latgale. It is a region worth exploring on foot or by bike.

The first mention of Livani comes from the 11th century and the archeological findings prove that in the 13th century there was a large stronghold at the confluence of rivers. Livani’s favorable location – by road and water routes, was strongly linked to industry and trade in the past. Large local deposits of aluminum, sand and peat made the city famous for the production of bricks and glass. Nowadays you can visit an old glassworks in Livani, where you can see an exhibition of the local glassware. At present, Livani is the third largest industrial center in the region – after Daugavpils and Rezekne.

In Livani one can find many interesting historical sites. The water mill on Dubno river and the Lutheran and the Old Believers churches are definitely worth seeing. In summer, you can use the water shuttle connecting both banks of the Daugava. This will certainly be a real tourist attraction during the trips through Latgale.

Our friendship with Livani began at the meetings taking place in the Lithuanian city of Ukmerge, during the celebrations of the local City Day. Soon afterwards, in 2008, the delegation from our Commune went to Livani for the first time. Since then, our cooperation has tightened and resulted in the signing of a letter of intent (July 2011), and a year later – a partnership agreement (July 2012).

Our meetings do not take place only on the local government level. In 2009, we participated in an international seminar on building local tourism attractiveness. Our guests from Livani regularly participate in international conferences organized in Tarnowo Podgórne – so far we got to know the Latvian experience in strengthening the modern role of the family and their experience in building a civil society and many others. The Livani representative took part in the International Miss Tarnowo Podgórne International Competition in 2010. In addition, the “Turki” Folkloristic Band was one of the stars at the District Festival of Folk Bands in Lusowo in 2012. In 2012, we were also visited by a group of self-government authorities and NGOs from Livani who wanted to get to know our experiences in the area of creating and formalizing the principles of cooperation with local associations.

Latvian fondness and openness are surely the things one can experience while in Livani, since it’s such a beautiful region that’s full of hospitable people.