The best running trails around Mazais Stropu ezers

The fortress as a whole is very worth seeing, even if it would deserve better use to prevent it from being left to decay.

Seeing the frozen lake, I find it hard to imagine that we could swim there 😀

The area around Stropi Lake (Stropu ezers) is a very popular recreation area in Daugavpils. The highlight is the lake with its beaches. A floating lido with lanes for swimming and sun loungers has recently been added. All around there is a beach volleyball court, among other things. You can easily get to the lake by tram.

In the Jaunbūve district you will find many old wooden houses, some of which are brightly painted. Here you sometimes feel transported 150 years into the past.

Churches of four major religions in Latgale are located on Church Hill: Russian Orthodox, Catholic, Evangelical and Old Believers. All four are architectural gems and together form a fascinating ecumenical ensemble. On the tower of the Martin Luther Cathedral there is a viewing platform at a height of 40 meters.

The Dinaburg fortress had four gates that were named in honour of Emperor Alexander I and his brothers – grand dukes. The Nicholas gate is exposed to the bridgehead; it welcomed travellers arriving at the fortress from Europe. The gate was built from 1824 to 1827 in Neo-Gothic style. The Nicholas gate (the gate is named after the future Emperor Nicholas I) is different from other gates of the fortress in the way that it has lateral chambers on both sides of the central passageway – in tsarist days they were used as guard and prisoner rooms. In the 1920s the old wood bridge leading from the 1st coast lunette to the gate over the moat was taken down. During the Soviet times the gate was bricked up from the moat side and used to store vegetables. Gate restoration took place from October 2012 to December 2013. Using anastylosis (installation of fallen genuine elements), the attic of the external façade of the gate and the roof structure were reconstructed; gate wings of the internal façade that have been miraculously preserved as well as internal premises were reconstructed; the foundation and underground gallery removing rain and ground waters from the fortress into the moat were fixed. On façades cast-iron ornaments were renewed: representation of the coat of arms of the Imperial Russia in the stylistics of the Alexander I era, double-sided halberds (battle-axes) and the gate name in the original writing. Gate rooms are now fitted with modern lighting enabling to use them as exhibition halls. Historical foundations are currently used to bear the reconstructed 55m long and 8 m wide wood bridge that can now be used to get into the fortress from Daugavas Street. The restoration of the 1st coast lunette with corps de garde (guardroom) and barrier gate covering the way to the Nicholas gate bridge was finished in October 2014. https://rm.coe.int/16806f5dfd

The Daugavpils Fortress is the only early 19th century military fortification of its kind in Northern Europe that has been preserved without major alterations. The Nicholas gate is one of the four gates of the Dinaburg fortress, located in the city of Daugavpils (Latvia).