Lielzalve manor

Lielzalve Manor (Salven, Gr.Salwen, Saluenhof, Gross-Salwen, L.Salwe) was a manor of the knights of the Livonian Order. The manor's hunting lodge or manor house was built in 1676. Fragments of the ancient foundations and cellars have survived today. On them in the 18th and 19th centuries. the current manor house was built. Each century has left architectural evidence of its era in the manor building. It belonged to the Efferns, Plettenbergs, Brakels, Korfs, Zubovs and Shuvalovs (1826–1920). The last owners of the manor were the son of Counts Tekla and Andrei, Pavel, and grandson Aleksandrs Shuvalov. 

For three and a half centuries, the ancient manor house could not do without legends, ghost stories and underground passages. After the agrarian reform of 1920. The manor land was divided among the young farmers, but the Zalves primary school (1922 – 2009) was moved to the castle. From 2019, the manor house was transferred to the Sēļu klubs association for free use under a Loan Agreement. The Lielzalve manor house is an architectural monument of regional significance. Here you can see exhibitions about the Zalves school and the history of the manor, a 20th-century school classroom. There is an event venue – the Rose Hall, a place for children to study – a fairy tale theater, a studio for painting, a book storage for reading, the Hunting Wing – rooms about hunters and nature. 

In 2022, the Memorial Room for the local resident, poet Imants Auzīns (1937-2013) was opened. One of the most active poets of the Latvian 20th century, a literary critic and translator. Strong and stable as a personality both in literature and in the memories of contemporaries. Born in Zalvē, graduated from Zalvē primary school and Nereta secondary school. He loved his native land and Sēlija all his life, which is reflected in his art. The manor barn (1858) and the old part of the manor park with alleys and new visual objects have been preserved.