Burtnieki () is a village (population 488) in Burtnieki Parish,

Valmiera Municipality Valmiera Municipality () is one of the 35 Municipalities of Latvia, municipalities established in Latvia in 2021, located approximately west of the national capital Riga. Its first elected municipal council took office on 1 July 2021. Its seat i ...

, in the

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-centra ...

region of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, near

Lake Burtnieks Lake Burtnieks (, ) is the fourth largest lake in Latvia. It is shallow with an average depth of 2.9 m. The lake bed is mainly sandy, in places a little muddy. In the southeast part of the lake there is Devonian sandstone rock. The lake has 17 ...

. Administrative centre of Burtnieki Parish. Burtnieki was first mentioned in the

Livonian Chronicle of Henry The ''Livonian Chronicle of Henry'' () is a Latin narrative of events in Livonia (roughly corresponding to today's Estonia and Latvia) and surrounding areas from 1180 to 1227. It was written by a priest named Henry. Apart from some references ...

in 1208 and has several historic sites: Burtnieki castle-ruins, Burtnieki manor and Burtnieki church.

Burtnieki castle and manor

Burtnieki was a site of a

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after thei ...

castle, built in 1284. The house was burned down in the 16th century, during the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) concerned control of Terra Mariana, Old Livonia (in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia). The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Denmark–Norway, Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom ...

. A part of stone wall on the Southern side remains. In the 14th century, a manor estate was built near the castle ruins, on the bank of

. In 1860s, baron J.F. von Schroder created a park near the estate (now known as the Burtnieki park) with about 70 species of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s and

bushes A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

Lutheran church of Burtnieki

The Lutheran church of Burtnieki is located on the Eastern bank of the lake. The first church was built there in 1234. It was a

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, built from wood. It burned down and was replaced by a stone wall church between 1283-1287. It was destroyed in 1654, during the Polish-Russian War. The current church was built in 1688. Near the church is located a minister estate building complex, renovated in 1992. The estate building has been defined as a protected architectural monument.

Horse farm of Burtnieki

Burtnieki has a horse-farm, first established in 1941. Several notable horses have been bred here. Burtnieki-bred horse Rusty, with the rider

Ulla Salzgeber Ulla Salzgeber (born 5 August 1958 in Oberhausen) is a German equestrianism, equestrian and Olympic champion who competes in the sport of dressage. Competing in the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics, she won two team gold medal ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, won bronze medal in individual

dressage Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...

and gold medal in team dressage in

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. After Olympics, Rusty and Ulla Salzgeber have won two European Championships (in 2001 and 2003) and World Cup. The former "Briedes" pub (built in 1840) hosts a

horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given Horse breed, breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired chara ...

and agriculture museum. It was one of the sites of 2000 European Heritage Days.

Burtnieki school

Burtnieki school was established in 1685 and was one of the first 15 rural schools in Latvia. It is currently known as Burtnieki Auseklis Secondary School.

External links

Burtnieki
- from "In Your Pocket" city guide.
Burtnieki horse-farm
Villages in Vidzeme Castles of the Livonian Order Valmiera county Populated places in Valmiera Municipality {{Vidzeme-geo-stub