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Preiļi Municipality
Preiļi Municipality ( lv, Preiļu novads) is a municipality in Latgale, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2000 by merging Aizkalne Parish, Preiļi Parish and Preiļi town. In 2009 it absorbed Pelēči Parish and Sauna Parish, too the adm ...
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Aglona Parish
Aglona Parish ( lv, Aglonas pagasts) is an administrative unit of Preiļi Municipality,
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Eastern European Time, EET
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EEST
Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) is one of the names of the UTC+03:00 time zone, which is 3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in some European and Middle Eastern countries, which makes it ...
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, postal_code = LV-5304 Aglona
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Aglona ( ltg, Aglyuna, russian: Аглона, hist. german: Aglohn) is a village in
Preiļi Municipality
Preiļi Municipality ( lv, Preiļu novads) is a municipality in Latgale, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2000 by merging Aizkalne Parish, Preiļi Parish and Preiļi town. In 2009 it absorbed Pelēči Parish and Sauna Parish, too the adm ...
,
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
. It is located northeast of the city of
Daugavpils
Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...
.
Located on the narrow strip of land between the lakes
Cirišs and
Egles, the present-day village is the result of merger of three settlements: Aglona,
Somerseta and
Jaunciems
Jaunciems ( liv, Ūžkilā) is a populated place in Tārgale parish, Ventspils municipality, northwest Latvia. It is one of the twelve Livonian villages. Both the Latvian and Livonian names mean "new village".
See also
*Livonian people
...
. The scenic beauty of the surrounding area attracts many visitors every summer. The nearby Sacrifice Island ( lv, Upursala), Devil's Lake ( lv, Velnezers), and the Madelanu Castle Mound are among the most beautiful places in Latvia. The surrounding
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...
forests have suffered from excessive logging in recent years, significantly damaging their once pristine quality. Traditionally, many families from
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
spend their summers in countryside near Aglona.
History
Aglona is famous in Latvia and beyond for its
Basilica of the Assumption — the most important Catholic church in the country. The church and monastery were founded by the Dominican fathers in 1700. The original wooden church and monastery were razed in the 1760s and construction for a new church was begun in 1768 and completed by 1800 when it was consecrated.
[Latkovskis, Leonhards ''Aglona: The History of the Church and Monastery'', Publishing House of the Latgalian Culture Centre, ]Rēzekne
Rēzekne (, ; German: ''Rositten'') is a state city in the Rēzekne River valley in Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is called ''The Heart of Latgale'' (Latvian ''Latgales sirds'', Latgalian ''Latgolys sirds''). Built on seven hills, Rēz ...
2009, It attracts tens of thousands of pilgrims every year on the day of the
Assumption of Mary
The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows:
We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by ...
(15 August) as well as on Pentecost. The historic icon of the Aglona Mother of God is considered miraculous and has long been an object of veneration. Its dates to the 17th century and its authorship is unknown.
In 1980 the Church celebrated its 200th anniversary and was officially given the status of a
minor basilica
In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...
by
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
. In 1986 it was the site of celebration of the 800th anniversary of Christianity in Latvia. A major renovation of the basilica and expansion of the church grounds was begun in 1992 in preparation for the pope's visit. The shrine was visited by Pope John Paul II in September 1993 and over 300,000 pilgrims assembled at that time. Pope Francis
visited in September 2018.
See also
*
List of cities in Latvia
*
Basilica of the Assumption, Aglona
References
External links
Aglona in detaila
Latgale Research CenterAglyunas Zvaneņš
(catholic weekly in Latgalian)
visitAglona
Tourism website about Aglona and Latgale (a little bit)
Preiļi Municipality
Towns and villages in Latvia
Catholic pilgrimage sites
Latgale
{{Latgale-geo-stub