Saunags - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Saunags is a populated place in Kolka parish

Kolka parish

- Villages of Kolka parish :* Kolka...

Dundaga municipality

Dundaga municipality is a municipality in Courland, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Dundaga parish and Kolka parish, the administrative centre being Dundaga.- References :...

, Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

, located 11 km from the Cape Kolka

Cape Kolka

Cape Kolka - cape on the Baltic Sea, near the entry to Gulf of Riga, in Livonian coast, in the Courland historical region of Latvia. The cape is surrounded by the Irbe Strait which serves as the natural border with Estonia. Cape Kolka represents the southwestern limit of the Gulf of Riga.Cape...

, within the borders of Slītere National Park

Slitere National Park

Slītere National Park is a national park in Talsi district, Kurzeme Region, on the west coast of Latvia. Although formally established in 2000, it is based on former Slītere Nature Reserve, one of the oldest nature reserves in Baltic States...

. It is one of the oldest of the twelve Livonian villages on the Līvõd rānda - the Livonian Coast

Livonian coast

Livonian Coast is a territory of Latvia inhabited by Livonian people. It is located in Northern Courland and encompasses twelve Livonian villages...

. It consists of two parts - Saunags and Dižsaunags (from Latvian

Latvian language

Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...

- Great Saunags). Located along the coast of the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

and formerly inhabited by Livonian people

Livonian people

The Livonians or Livs are the indigenous inhabitants of Livonia, a large part of what is today northwestern Latvia and southwestern Estonia. They spoke the Uralic Livonian language, a language which is closely related to Estonian and Finnish...

or Livs.

Saunags is positioned on crossing of parallel going via Goteborg (Sweden) and meridian going via Turku (Finland), both are important ancient regional trading and cultural centres.

Name derived from Livonian Sǟnag, meaning pike-perch (scientific Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

name: Sander (genus)

Sander (genus)

Sander is a genus of fish in the Percidae family. They are also known as "pike-perch" because of their resemblance to fish in the unrelated Esocidae family....

, Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

: судак), a local fish.

There is a former site of USSR border guards tower, projector light and small security house (the only one still standing). The former Saunagciema lighthouse is now converted into navigational sign. Behind the dunes lies the site of the coastal narrow gauge railway, which was left unfinished during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

(see Livonian coast

Livonian coast

Livonian Coast is a territory of Latvia inhabited by Livonian people. It is located in Northern Courland and encompasses twelve Livonian villages...

). Straight road or passage still runs behind the dunes parallel to the coast line from Pitrags

Pitrags

Pitrags is a populated place in Kolka parish, Dundaga municipality, Latvia at the mouth of the river Pitraga. One of twelve Livonian villages....

to Vaide

Vaide

Vaide is a populated place in Kolka parish, Dundaga municipality, Latvia. One of the twelve Livonian villages on Līvõd rānda - the Livonian Coast.Other names: Vayde,Vaides Ciems....

along abandoned German and Soviet military bunkers. On the outskirts of the village in direction of Vaide

Vaide

Vaide is a populated place in Kolka parish, Dundaga municipality, Latvia. One of the twelve Livonian villages on Līvõd rānda - the Livonian Coast.Other names: Vayde,Vaides Ciems....

is the site of a Medieval burial ground, next to it lay the ruins of the first Soviet military base built soon after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

In the past, Saunags was mainly populated by fishermen and farmers; today, historic wooden properties are mainly used as summer houses (or dacha
Dacha
Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...

s). Akacijas estate (former Rupnieki) is the site of former local fish processing and salting plant owned by Kārlis Tilmanis, well known canned fish brand in Latvia between two World Wars. Tilmanis family fled by boat to Sweden in 1944. Only an ice storage inside dune and skeleton wooden pier still remain. The other large estates are Jaunpakalni (include former Pakalni), Niglini and Krumini. There is a restored old local fishing boat as well as a small private ethnographical museum on the Jaunpakalni estate (viewings are by appointment only).

In 2010 Saunags, possibly the oldest village out of 12 Livonian villages, celebrated its 700th birthday (since first mentioned in documents). To mark this anniversary some local residents followed old Livonian routes by sea on motor yacht "Kolka" from Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

via Ruhnu

Ruhnu

Ruhnu is an island situated in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It belongs to Estonia and is an administrative part of Saare County. At 11.9 km2 it has currently less than 100, mostly ethnic Estonian permanent inhabitants...

and Saaremaa

Saaremaa

Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring 2,673 km². The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago...

islands and Kolka

Kolka

thumb|Former Orthodox seminary and church in the backgroundKolka is a village in Kolka parish, Dundaga municipality on the tip of Cape Kolka in Courland in Latvia, on the coast of the Gulf of Riga in ancient Livonia. It is home to the last remnants of Latvia's Livonian ethnic group, whose Livonian...

to Saunags, where they disembarked from anchored boat. Memorial sign "DIŽSAUNAGS" was placed on the top of a sand dune nearby.

See also