LIEPAJA
Day 31 Wednesday, 19th June 2019
Caught the bus to Karosta but the driver didn’t speak any English so we went south into the town of Liepaja rather than northwards to Karosta! So we saw what Liepaja had to offer – not a lot! And went to an ATM before catching the right bus, no. 3, to take us to Karosta – thanks to Google Maps on my phone!
The very obliging driver of the 3 bus showed us where the church was at the end of the journey: St. Nicolas’ Marine Cathedral. It’s right next to a block of very Soviet flats! And it’s the same one we saw glinting in the sun as we approached the harbour.
The foundation stone of the cathedral was laid in 1900. Russian Tsar Nikolay 11 visited Liepaja with his family and attended the consecration ceremony at the cathedral. There are some old photos in the church showing the event. The most important donors to the cathedral were Tsar Nikolay 11 and his family. He was the same tsar who was forced to abdicate in 1917 and was murdered, along with his family, in 1918 in Ekaterinburg.
The Cathedral was damaged in WW1 and used as German anti-aircraft defence forces unit during WW11. After the return of the Soviet Army it was used as a warehouse and later as a sailors’ club with cinema and sports hall. In 1991 the Russian Navy abandoned the Cathedral and left the keys to the believers. It was rededicated the next year. I wear a scarf as all the women inside are wearing scarves. The church is full of Russian Orthodox icons which I can’t photograph.
Next to the Museum in a Prison – the only military prison in Europe open to tourists. It was built as a hospital at the beginning of the 20th century but soon became a prison – a short-term disciplinary penalty place. Tsarist Russian Garrison soldiers who participated in the events of the attempted revolution in in 1905, served their sentence in this prison. We have soup in metal bowls with tarnished spoons in the café – supposed to be prisoners’ rations!
Sailors and non-commissioned officers in
both the Soviet and Latvian Navy have been sent here.
The last of the convicts have scratched calendars, drawings, slogans, messages on the walls of the cells, just a short time ago in 1997.
Our guide in Soviet sailor’s uniform:
we’re on an English tour (there are only guided tours in the prison) with another English couple, a Russian couple and a Lithuanian school party of teenagers. We are asked to maintain high discipline, take part in military drills and we’re put into a cell and locked in – but if you disobey you will be punished.
We go into cell 26 with no windows and experience solitary confinement for a few minutes.
Bus home – no 4 – takes 30 minutes. We go to the wonderful supermarket, Rimi, which could be anywhere in Europe. The wine boxes are expensive but everything else is pretty reasonable. Make spaghetti sauce for our meal on board but forget to buy any parmesan!
Lady Hamilton 2019 