Kuldiga is a city in western Latvia on the Ventava river and is known primarily for the widest waterfall in the country and the unique wooden buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries.
The settlement was founded in this place in the 13th century and quickly developed into a significant commercial center due to its location on the Vistula River. The 2 m high waterfall, which is now a tourist attraction, meant that ships could not go further up the river, but had to be unloaded in the city.
Kuldiga received city rights at the end of the 14th century and was soon adopted by Hansa. Thanks to this, her welfare increased even more. Unfortunately, in the 16th century, as a result of flooding, all the city's buildings were destroyed.
The great flood is the reason why the oldest monuments of Kuldiga date back to the 16th-17th centuries. The most important is the wooden city complex and several half-timbered houses from the 17th and 18th centuries. You can also see the baroque church of the Holy Trinity and the Lutheran temple of St. Catherine.
In addition to buildings from the period of reconstruction after the flood of the 17th century, the center also has eclectic and neoclassical buildings from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, including the former synagogue and the Lutheran church of St. Anne.
