Sabile (; ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Talsi Municipality Talsi Municipality (; Livonian language, Livonian: ) is a municipality in Courland, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by Merger (politics), merging Abava parish, Balgale parish, Ģibuļi parish, Īve parish, Ķūļciems parish, Laidze pa ...

, in the

Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

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 ...

. Sabile was first mentioned in chronicles in 1253. From the 14th century to the 16th century, it was a site of a castle of the

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 ...

and a village near the castle. Sabile became a town in 1917. The Sabile Wine hill ('' Sabiles Vīna Kalns'') used to be the most northern open-air vineyard in the world, registered in the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

. The winemaking tradition in Sabile dates back to the 16th century. For the first time, wine production was created here during Livonia (14th century), and the hill was completely restored in 1936 during by the mayor Osvalds Rezebergs. The Sabile Castle Mound, which was the center of the district from the 10th century to the 13th century, overlooks Sabile and the valley of the Abava River. File:SabileBaznica.JPG, Sabile Lutheran church File:Sabile weinberg.jpg, Sabile wineyard File:SabileTalsuiela.JPG, Talsu street in Sabile File:Sabiles sinagoga 2005 06.jpg, Former synagogue in Sabile. Today ''Centre of contemporary art''

Notable people

* Alberts Šeibelis (1906–1972), footballer * Ainars Zvirgzdiņš (born 1959), basketball coach * Markus Riva (born 1986), singer * Dzintars Čīča (born 1993), singer

References

Cities and towns in Courland 1917 establishments in Latvia Populated places established in 1917 Populated places in Talsi Municipality Latvian wine {{Courland-geo-stub

Notable people

See also

References