Map - Kuldīga

Kuldīga (Goldingen) is a town in the Courland region of Latvia, in the western part of the country. It is the center of Kuldīga Municipality with a population of approximately 13,500.

Kuldīga was first mentioned in 1242. It joined the Hanseatic League in 1368. In the 17th century, Kuldīga (along with Jelgava (Mitau)) was one of the capitals of the Duchy of Courland from 1596 to 1616.

Kuldīga is an ancient town in Latvia's western region of Kurzeme with distinctive architecture, which is a candidate for inclusion in the list of the UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. Saint Catherine is believed to be the patron saint of Kuldīga, and the oldest church of the town is named after St Catherine. The foundation of the building was laid as early as in 1252. The church has been remodeled a number of times. The small River Alekšupīte runs through the very centre of the Kuldīga old town, along the walls of the houses. The Old Town around the small river itself is the only remaining 17th–18th-century ensemble of this kind in the Baltic states. A 4.2 metres high waterfall on the Alekšupīte is the highest in Latvia. The Venta Rapid, a 240-meter wide natural rapid is the widest in Europe. Not far from the rapid is the Kuldīga brick bridge built in 1874, which is the longest bridge of this type in Europe.

Kuldīga was recognized as an EDEN destination in 2007.

The origin of the ancient town Kuldīga can be explained by its location on the crossroads: the waterways of River Venta and land routes joining the Prussian lands with the lower reaches of River Daugava. The ancient Kuldiga town of Couronians – a fortified castle mound and a settlement were located 3,5 km to the North down the River Venta on its left bank. The castle mound still be seen today. It is located on a bank of the River Venta on the foreland between the deep gully of the River Veckuldīga and the ancient valley of the Venta. The Site of the Castle itself is located in the several hectare wide area, but together with the Old City of Kuldiga – the area of more than ten hectares. There might have been a port by the River Veckuldīga.

On April 19, 1242 the Livonian Order of Knights received the master's permission to build a castle on the banks of River Venta. As this is the oldest preserved written document where Kuldiga is mentioned, it is considered to be the year of the foundation of Kuldiga. The Castle of the Livonian Order of Knights was built on the left bank of River Venta by the ford, and the dolomite from the riverbed was used as the construction material. In 1263, the castle and settlements around it were already mentioned as the town Goldingen, and its rights as for a town were based on Riga city rights.

On April 28, 1355, the Order's master allocated new land areas. At the same time he attributed a new privilege to the town, as well as a coat of arms with the image of St. Catherine. From 1439 Kuldiga/Goldingen was given a privilege to arrange a market weekly. The town was established by joining the three main populated areas: the town, the small village of the castle (town of the Couronians) and the village on the hill (so called "Kalnamiests" in Latvian) (in the area of Kalna iela today). The Komtur lived in the Castle of Livonian Order together with his twelve brothers being knights and with so-called stepbrothers who took care of the economic life. The Komtur also led the Komturei of Kuldiga, which had also Durbe, Sabile, Skrunda, Aizpute, Alsunga and Saldus along with Kuldiga in possession.

After establishing the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia in 1561, a new period began in the history of Kuldiga. The first duke Gotthard Kettler chose the former order castle to be one of his residences. He and later also other dukes approved the former town rights of Kuldiga by supporting its economic development. When the duke Gotthard died, the dukedom was divided into two parts and till 1618 Kuldiga was the residence of his youngest son Wilhelm and a capital of Kurzeme. The town profited from trading with Riga and Jelgava because of taxes on all goods taken across the bridge. In 1615, the bridge was destroyed by floods, causing a great loss to the town. In the same year, there was a huge fire destroying the major part of the wooden constructions in the town. After reconstruction of the town, a new market place was established (the Square of the City Council nowadays) and a new Town Hall was built (Baznīcas iela 5 nowadays), which we now name as the old one. So the centre of the town was moved from the old place near by the St. Catherine's Church to the present Square of the City Council. The richest citizens and merchants built their houses around the new centre of the town. In the second part of the 19th century, small industrial companies began to be developed in the town. Some of them became factories with more than 100 workers. The largest factory in Kuldiga was the factory "Vulkāns" producing matches (established in 1878 and closed in 2004), and the label of matchboxes had an image of a deer on it. The second largest was the factory of Vintelers Tūki. Furthermore things such as needles, cigars, soap, vodka, liqueurs and mineral water were produced in Kuldiga. Beer brewing was the tradition with deep routes – beer was brewed in the order castle, in the duke's manors and in the town as well. Many new buildings were built in this period – not only residential, but also municipal and public buildings. After several centuries, Kuldiga got a new bridge across the River Venta (1873–74), a new Town Hall was built (1868), the Orthodox Parish House and a church in Liepājas iela, a prison (which is a post office nowadays), the House of Latvian Society (which is the Centre for Culture nowadays), the German 'Gymnasium' (secondary school) in Kalna iela 19 and other buildings as well. Soon the number of local inhabitants doubled, reaching 13 thousand just before World War I.