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Kuldīga () ((ドイツ語:Goldingen)) is a town in western Latvia. 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. Kuldīga was the birthplace of the linguist Max Weinreich. Kuldīga is the pearl of Kurzeme, Latvia's western region. Kuldīga boasts distinctive architecture, the Venta River with the widest waterfall ledge in Europe, and an old brick bridge. Kuldīga was recognised an EDEN destination in 2007. Kuldīga is an ancient town with unique architecture. Saint Catherine is believed to be the patron saint of Kuldīga, and thus the church of the town has been named after St Katrīna. The foundation of the building was laid as early as in 1252; later the church was remodelled a number of times, and the altar was decorated with Baroque style wood carvings. One of the most successful rulers of the Duchy of Courland, Duke Jacob was christened in this church, and his wedding to Princess Louise Charlotte of Brandenburg also took place here. The Town Hall was built in the 17th century. The town square, since the very origins of the settlement, was a place where townspeople used to gather. The tradition has survived: the pulse of the town is best felt in the central square, a venue for weavers' exhibitions, traditional festivities and other events. It is in Kuldīga that one can see the oldest wooden building in Kurzeme put up in 1670 near the town square. Through the very centre of the Kuldīga old town there runs the little River Alekšupīte. A 4.5 m high waterfall on the stream is the highest in Latvia. In the 17th century, the waterfall, technically a dam, powered the first paper mill in Kurzeme. An annual race is held on the Alekšupīte, when the contestants run directly along the river bottom. The Alekšupīte literally runs through the Old Town walls. The Old Town itself is unique: in its time it was built as a suburb to the Kuldīga Castle, and is the only remaining 17th-18th century ensemble of this kind in the Baltic states. The pride of Kuldīga is the Venta Rapid, a 240-meter wide natural rapid which is the widest in Europe. In spring, one can watch the fish flying up the ledge; due to this, Kuldīga was once famous as a "place where they catch salmon in the air". Not far from the rapid there is the Kuldīga brick bridge built in 1874, one of the longest bridges of this type in Europe. According to the road building standards of its time, the bridge has been built wide enough for two carriages to pass each other. The 'race of the naked' over the bridge has become an annual tradition for Midsummer nights. ==History== The origin of the ancient town Kuldiga (Kuldīga – in Latvian) 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 can be observed nowadays still. 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. In 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 construction material. In 1263, the castle and settlements around it were already mentioned as town Kuldiga, and its rights as for a town were based on Riga city rights. In April 28, 1355, the Order’s master Gosvin von Herike 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 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 about 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 Dukedom of Kurzeme and Zemgale 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 also later other dukes approved the former town rights of Kuldiga by supporting its economic development. When the duke Gothard 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 made profit from trading with Riga and Jelgava because of the taxes on all the 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 wood construction 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 to be 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. Besides, such things 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 duke’s manors and in the town as well. Lots of new buildings were built in this period of time – not only residential buildings, but also municipal and public buildings were built. 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 nowadays), the House of Latvian Society (which is the Centre for Culture nowadays), the German Gymnasium in Kalna iela 19 and other buildings as well. Soon the number of local inhabitants doubled, reaching 13 thousand just before the World War I. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kuldīga」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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