Rēzekne
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Rēzekne (Estonian: Räisaku; German: Rositten; Latgalian: Rēzne; Polish: Rzeżyca; Russian: Резекне, previously (-1893) Розиттен, (1893-1917) Режица) is a city in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia, 242 km east of Riga. It has a population of 36,646 (2006).
Built on seven hills, Rēzekne is situated at the intersection of the Moscow-Riga and Saint Petersburg-Warsaw railways, at .
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[edit] History
A Latgalian castle[1] is known to have existed at Rēzekne from the 9th to the 13th centuries, until its destruction at the hands of German crusaders of the Livonian Order. The knights built a stone fortress on the site to serve as a border post on their eastern frontier.
The name Rēzekne was first documented in 1285. The town became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the Peace of Jam Zapolski in 1582 during the Livonian War.[1] Rēzekne received Magdeburg rights from Poland in the 17th century. It fell to the Russian Empire during the Partitions of Poland.
The first congress of Latgalian Latvians was held in Rēzekne in the spring of 1917 during World War I, and following Latvia's declaration of independence in 1918 the city became a cultural centre for the Latgale region. Rēzekne was heavily damaged by both Nazi and Soviet armies during World War II; out of a pre-war population of 13,300, only 5,000 people remained in the city at the end of the war.
Rēzekne was rebuilt after the war with an emphasis on industrial development and currently has a significant population of Russians (54% in the census of 1998).
[edit] Sights
The town has a famous statue by Leons Tomašickis named Latgales Mara. First unveiled on September 8, 1939 as a monument to the liberation of Latgale from Bolsheviks in January 1920, the statue was removed by the Soviets in November 1940. The local population restored Latgales Mara on August 22, 1943, but the Soviets destroyed it after June 1950. The statue was rebuilt after the independence of Latvia and unveiled on August 13, 1992. Latgalas Mara symbolizes a united Latvia and Latgalian independence from Bolshevik rule.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Rēzekne.com. "History." Accessed October 4, 2006.
- ^ Rēzekne.com. "For united Latgale - Latgalas Mara." Accessed October 4, 2006.
[edit] External links
| Districts and Cities of Latvia | |||
| City: Daugavpils • Jelgava • Jūrmala • Liepāja • Rēzekne • Riga • Ventspils District : Aizkraukle District • Alūksne District • Balvi District • Bauska District • Cēsis District • Daugavpils District • Dobele District • Gulbene District • Jēkabpils District • Jelgava District • Kraslava District • Kuldīga District • Liepāja District • Limbaži District • Ludza District • Madona District • Ogre District • Preiļi District • Rēzekne District • Rīga District • Saldus District • Talsi District • Tukums District • Valka District • Valmiera District • Ventspils District |
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