Ludza

Ludza ( German: Ludsen, estn: Lutsi ) is a city in Latgale ( Latvian: Latgale ), Latvia, 269 km east of Riga.

Location

The city is close to the Russian border on the line of Rezekne after Welikije Luki. In the city there are several lakes in particular the large Ludza Lake ( 846 acres ), the Zvirgzdene Lake (134 acres ), the Dunakļi Lake (83 acres ) and the small Ludza Lake.

History

At the large Ludza Lake archaeological evidence of Stone Age settlements from the 5th to the 8th millennium BC have been found. After several excavations and investigations in 1890 and 1959, the opinion is expressed that the colonization was extensive and continuous. 1939, a silver neck ring was found, which is exhibited in the Latvian History Museum in Riga.

A lettgalische fastening at Ludza was first mentioned in Russian chronicles from the years 1173 or 1177. The German Order In 1399 a stone castle between the two lakes as the eastern outpost in Livonia. This was a side of the castle Bailiwick Rossiten. The Ludza castle bordered on the Pleskaus area. Therefore, the Pskov fortress protected with the " Krasny Gorodok " directly across from Ludza. Already in 1481 was a first incident of Russian armies. After another war years Ludza 1583 came under the rule of Poland-Lithuania. In 1654 the castle was captured after a siege by the troops of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and finally destroyed.

However, the settlement around the castle received market rights in 1765. With the partitioning of Poland in 1772 Ludza was then Russian, and received in 1777 by Catherine the Great city rights. In the 19th century the city experienced a strong recovery through trade and commerce. After the independence of Latvia sat down this continued from 1920. However, half of the city in 1938 was burned down by fire. 1940, the city was occupied by the Red Army in 1941 and then by the Wehrmacht. After the restoration of Soviet power took place in 1945 and 1949, mass deportations and detentions that met the population Ludzas.

In the years to 1990, industry was increasingly settled. The largest farms were a large factory for steel processing, a linen factory, a chicken factory, the local dairy, a lemonade factory, agriculture and forestry businesses.

Others

• The Polish writer Antoni Ferdynand Ossendowski and documentary filmmaker Herz Frank were born here.
• The neighborhood was partially settled by the Ludza -Estonians as an ethnic minority.
• There is a secondary school, three middle schools, an art school, a sports school and a number of pre-school and kindergarten facilities.
• Ludzas novads maintains with the Lower Saxon town of Bad ground pond twinned.

Ludzas novads

Ludza was the capital of the district of the same name. After a territorial reform of Latvia, Ludza since 2009, the capital of Ludzas novads, which consists of the city and 9 rural communities. 2010 there were registered 15667 inhabitants. Since Latvia's independence in 1992 the population will decrease due to the poor economic situation and declining birth rates. At the 2000 census were still alive 18269 inhabitants now in the district of which 51% Latvian and 41% Russian and 4.7% white Russian, Ukrainian or Polish specified as a nationality.