With 104 000 inhabitants, Daugavpils is Latvia’s second-largest city and the largest urban centre in the eastern region of Latgale. It is an attractive place to visit and important centre of industry, commerce, culture, education, sports and tourism.
Daugavpils is one of Latvia’s most multiethnic cities, being home to more than 30 ethnic groups. It is located about 230 kilometres southeast of Riga, 25 kilometres from the Lithuanian border, 35 kilometres from Belarus and 120 kilometres from Russia.
The city is proud of its impressive Fortress (Cietoksnis), which is the only fortification in Eastern Europe from the first half of the 19th century to have remained architecturally unchanged. Daugavpils is also home to the unique Unity Building (Vienības nams), which was the largest and most modern building in the Baltic countries when it was built in 1937. The churches of four Christian denominations stand not far away, at Church Hill (Baznīckalns).
Daugavpils is the birthplace of the world famous abstract painter Mark Rothko. The city’s museum has an entire room dedicated to the work of this artist, with reproductions of his most famous paintings on display. The Fortress will soon be home to the Rothko Arts Centre, where visitors will have the opportunity to see the painter’s original works. Daugavpils is also the birthplace of actor Solomon Mihoels un tango king Oskar Strok.
This city has two modern sports halls and several sports fields. Sunbathers and swimmers will be pleased to know that there are 15 lakes within the city proper, including Lake Stropi (Stropu ezers), whose beaches meet the highest standards and are Blue-Flag certified.
