Ventspils
Ventspils (Latvian: [ˈvæntspils] ⓘ) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country.
"Windau" redirects here. For the river of the same name, see Venta River.
Ventspils
Livonian: Vǟnta
1378
57.96 km2 (22.38 sq mi)
51.08 km2 (19.72 sq mi)
6.88 km2 (2.66 sq mi)
32,948
570/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
€0.461 billion (2021)
€14,000 (2021)
(+371) 636
13
At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906.[4] It is situated on the Venta River and the Baltic Sea, and has an ice-free port. The city's name literally means "castle on the Venta", referring to the Livonian Order's castle built alongside the Venta River.
Other names[edit]
Ventspils was historically known as Windau in German.
It had a Russian name from the time of the Russian Empire, called Виндава (Vindava) or Виндау (Vindau), although Вентспилс (Ventspils) has been used since World War II.
Some other names for the city include Livonian: Vǟnta, Estonian: Vindavi, and Polish: Windawa.
Institutions of higher education and science include:
Every winter Ventspils hosts the awarding ceremony of the Latvian Radio broadcast Musical Bank and the televised national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. On the second weekend of July the Sea Festival takes place, and on the first weekend of August there is an annual city festival for the city birthday. Festivals Ghetto games and Vakara pastaiga are popular.
There are several institutions taking responsibility for the cultural life of Ventspils, including:
Adventure Park[edit]
Ventspils has an Adventure Park (Latvian: Piedzīvojumu parks) that consists of Tube Sliding Track, Airsoft Shooting Range, Bumper boats, Trampoline Complex, Trampoline with Rubber Ribbons, Mad Rotor, Catapult, Trampoline boat, Playhouse for children, Inflatable Attractions in the summer.
In the winter you can skiing, snowboarding and sledding.
There is also a rodeo track (Latvian: Rodeļu trase) which is available to use all year round
