Latvia Village School

EU Internet Award 2010

Latvia

My country - Latvia

Welcome to Latvia!

President of Latvia

• President of Republic of Latvia Valdis Zatlers.

• Valdis Zatlers (born March 22, 1955) is the 7th and current president of Latvia. He won the Latvian presidential election of May 31, 2007. He became President of Latvia on 8 July 2007.

The capital of Latvija - Riga

• Riga, the capital of Latvia, was officially founded in 1201. Riga is divided into six administrative districts: Centra, Kurzeme, Ziemeļu, Latgale, Vidzeme and Zemgale districts

• Riga is located along the Baltic Sea at the southern coast of the Gulf of Riga, on the Rigava coastal plain. The historical core of Riga is situated on the right bank of the Daugava River, about 10 kilometers from where the Daugava flows into the Gulf of Riga. The natural terrain of this area is a flat and sandy plain, about 1 to 10 meters above the sea level

Riga• The regular building of the turn of the 19th and 20th

centuries is characteristic for the planning of the historic centre, oriented towards the direction of main streets in the Old City, which emerged approximately in the 14th century. Dismantling of outdated defense systems (ramparts, dams, constructions) in 1857 – 1863 was an important impetus for the development of the city construction. As a result, the picturesque Boulevard Circle was designed and in the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, with the rapid development of high-rise dwelling construction, unique Art Nouveau examples were created. In some districts of Riga, for various reasons, complex wooden constructions of that time have still been preserved, and that is an amazing phenomenon in the 21st century. In 1997 the historic center of Riga due to this valued architecture was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Photogallery of Riga

The cities of Latvia

• In my country is 77 cities

The lakes of Latvia

• There are about 3000 lakes in Latvia. Most of them are rather small. Approximately 40 % are located in Eastern part of Latvia. The deepest lake is Dridzis (65,1 m), the Largest - Lubans (80,7 m), while Ezezers is rich in islands (33 islands) and is situated in Latgale. There is also Usma lake in Kurzeme with the oldest nature reserve on the island - Moricsala (founded in 1912).

Rāzna’s lake

The rivers of Latvia• Daugava is the largest river of Latvia. It starts in Russia, in Valdajs

elevation, not far from Volga source - one of the largest rivers in Europe. The word “Daugava” in the language of ancient Balts means “rich in rivers”. Daugava is 1005 km long (352 km in Latvia). The ancient part of Daugava is between Kraslava and Daugavpils, where Daugava flows in ten large arches, making beautiful scenery.. In Riga, at the bridges, Daugava is 700 m wide, however, as it approaches the sea, its width is 1.5.km and depth - 8-9 meters. The river Gauja starts in the territory of Latvia, in Vidzeme elevation. Its total length is 452 km (it is the longest river in Latvia). The most beautiful scenery from Valmiera to Murjani (ancient vale of Gauja) is in the territory of Gauja National Park. On the banks of the river Gauja, the Devon sandstone rocks can be observed (Sietiniezis, Red Cliffs, Eagles’ Cliffs). Gauja’s eddies are dangerous, because the river changes its base. Sigulda is an outstanding tourism city and lies on the banks of Gauja (there is also the world famous bob-sleight route in Sigulda). Earlier it was a tributary of Daugava, but since 1755, has been flowing into Riga Sea Gulf.

Daugava’s way

Castles and palaces of LatviaLatviaFirst castles on present Latvia territorywere wooden structures built by Baltic tribes in the 1st century BC.The German Crusaders’ military invasionhad brought along methods of masonry building in the 13th century.Manors in Livonia Ideveloped as feudal demesne form starting from the early 13th century.Manors in Livonia IIBy the time land division became more split in smaller estates and the new manor

complexes developed in result.Starting from the 2nd half of the 18th centurystarted building of manor-houses what by their size can be called palaces – these richly

decorated multi-storeymasonry residences of landlords.Manor-houses and palaces built in Historicism, Art Nouveau and Neo-

Classicism stylesin period 1st half of the 19th century – beginning of the 20th century have important

place in culture ambience genesisof Latvia.At the beginning of the 20th centurymost of land in Latvia still was owned by about 1000 families (for example in Vidzeme

region 162 families 77 % of allland).At the time of agrarian reform in 1920it were counted 1479 manors, 294 semi-manors and 171 vicarages in Latvia.Advantageous geographic locationmakes Latvian castles, manors and palaces easy reachable for any tourist

Photo gallery of castles and palaces of Latvia

My village - Gaujiena

• Gaujiena is an old historical village of Ape region with picturesque views of the Gauja valley. Gaujiena is aprrox.150 km from capital Riga

• In documents Gaujiena name was first mentioned in 1111 year in a Novgorod chronicle. 1224 of land division between the bishops of Riga and the Order of the Sword of these sites got the Order of Merit in the Gauja valley from the sides of the river close to the resulting dolomite Gaujiena built a castle

• The old 13th century Gaujiena Castle-ruins can be viewed in the park near the 18th century manor centre. The elegant Late Classicism style manor-house was built in the middle of the 19th century, which once had of Baron von Woolf family palaces. There is our school now

• The castle was surrounded by a beautiful park

My school – O.Vacietis Gaujiena secondary school

• O.Vacietis Gaujiena Secondary school

• Our school is old castle

• The first high school opened its doors in Gaujiena region in 1922

• Our school offers 2 educational programmes - a general secondary educational and a general secondary education with commercial studies

• Students can take part in educational programmes of interests:

choir, ensemble, orienteering, school newspaper, sports, literary theatre, environmental education, museum guides, practically applied etiquette

Our teachers

Our traditions

• The first day on September• Teachers' Day• The day of the Poetry• The birthday of the School Newspaper• November 18 - the proclamation of Latvia• Christmas• St Valentin's Day• Theatrical Performance• The party of the ABC-book• The Day of the last ring• The last Day of the School• Good bye, my school...

• Now the 139 students school learners and 17 teachers working in the our school

Our activities

• Comenius

• eTwinning

• Youth in action

Comenius /Turkey, Spain, Germany, Latvia/

eTwinning

Youth in action /Turkey, Romania, Italy, Latvia – on October 2009/

Our unit “The Stairs” of youth club “The House”

What is club – “The House”• It’s the only youth public organisation in Latvia that has an aim to

popularize the idea of a united Europe, to promote democracy, tolerance and human rights while informing and educating youth.

Long-term projects, publishing own monthly newsletter in collaboration with other non-governmental organisations and state institutions.

These are seminars, lectures, conferences, camps, questionnaire and information’s stands, whose aim is to achieve that youngsters find out more about European institutions, about European culture, history, traditions, sport, social and political processes.

Our objective audience is a society, in particular youngsters in Latvia and abroad.

Young European federalists’ (JEF) representation in Latvia, which gives us an opportunity to understand more about what youngsters are thinking and doing in all Europe

Our activities

• “Youth exchange”• eTwinning• Workshops• Spring Day• Europe Day• Sports activities• Films festivity• Comeptitions

Our unit is 14 years old

Thank you for attention!