Sabile

Sabile ( German: Zabeln ) is a city in the west of Latvia in the Kurzeme historic landscape on the river Abava.

History

The area and the castle hill was populated by cures. Sabile was first mentioned in documents in 1253. From the 14th century until the 16th century it belonged to a castle of the Livonian Order. After 1561 the place as part of the Duchy of Courland to a local center for trade and craft was.

In 1567 established Lutheran church is the oldest bell in Latvia and therefore also one of the oldest in Europe. She wears 1450 stamped as the date. In addition, the church houses the oldest pulpit in Latvia in the year 1592nd

From 1793 onwards the government Kurland was part of the Russian Empire.

By 1890, 73 % of the population were Jewish. After the Holocaust during World War 2, there was no Jewish community in Sabile. The synagogue was built in 1890 is now used as a conference hall.

Sabile 1917 raised in the First World War the German occupation of the city.

Others

• Situated in the middle of Courland Switzerland Sabile can boast with the northernmost according to the Guinness Book of World Records vineyard in the world a special feature. On this mountain since the Order - time wine is cultivated. During the Soviet period the vineyard, however, was not maintained in 1989 the vineyard but was resumed. The vineyard has a height of 33.7 m ( 115 m above sea level) and a total area of 1.5 ha Every year a wine festival in July. The low yields of the vineyard are intended mainly for local consumption.

• Approximately 11 km south of Sabile in Matkule ( German: Mattkuln ) is a small ski area with two lifts, floodlights and a café.

Personalities

• From Good Rinkuln at Sabile came the Baltic German geographer Arved by Schultz ( 1883-1967 ).