Ventspils Seaside Open-Air Museum

The display of the Seaside Open-Air Museum introduces visitors to the day-to-day existence of the residents of Kurzeme coastline and illuminates the lives of Latvian and Livonian peasants and fishermen. Here, you can explore typical rural buildings, including windmills from Užava Civil Parish, smokeries, curing cabins and netting huts with traditional household exhibits, as well as Smiltnieki House – a late 19th-century suburban residential house unique to Ventspils and all of Latvia, and the Baptist prayer house of Lielirbe. Visitors can also explore a vast collection of sea fishing boats and the largest anchor collection in the Baltic States, with more than 140 exhibits ranging from the 17th century into today. Ventspils Seaside Open-Air Museum has undertaken a major restoration project to repair its historical fishing boats and other fishery objects. Some of the boats have been transported to workshops in Rīga, some of the largest boats are to be restored on site. The restoration should be completed by winter.

In cooperation with the Ventspils Municipal Administration, a construction project is being drafted for a boat shelter. If all goes right, construction works should begin in autumn. A popular entertainment and an exciting educational site at the Seaside Open-Air Museum is its famous Narrow Gauge Train with a 1.4 km long circular line and a 3 km long mountain line. It was built during World War I by German troops. Back then, the railway line connected Ventspils to the fishing villages on the shore.

The museum celebrates seasonal festivals and other occasions of local importance – the Slavic Maslenitsa, Easter, Sea Festival and City Festival, Civil Parish Day and Narrow Gauge Train Festival.