Gostiņi Cultural History Park

The Gostiņi Cultural and Historical Park was opened in 2016. The larger part of the park consists of seven memorial spots, each dedicated to one of Gostiņi’s historical names (Gostiņi, Evestmunde, Glasmanka, Trentelberga, Zarnu miests and Žīdu miests, Dankere) and the historical period associated with it. Each site includes an information stand presenting text and photographs.

An old legend tells that before there was a bridge over the Aiviekste River, people and animals would cross it at a nearby ford. Once, a wealthy innkeeper named Dankers was driving his cattle across the ford when one of the cows stumbled, was swept away by the current, and drowned. Since then, the rapids in the river were named Gostenes, the nearby cliff became known as Gostiņklintis, and the small settlement (later a town) was named Gostiņi.

Gostiņi was one of the towns in Latvia that, throughout its historical development, had the most official and unofficial names. Between 1927 and 1930, Gostiņi was incorporated into the town of Pļaviņas, but in 1933 it was separated and granted independent town rights (at the time, there were 60 towns in Latvia — Gostiņi was the second smallest, after Piltene). The town’s coat of arms featured a symbolic depiction of the confluence of the dark Aiviekste and the bright Daugava rivers.

In 1935, the town had 258 residential buildings, of which 28 were made of brick and 232 of wood; 252 were single-storey, and 6 were two-storey. The total number of apartments was 315, with 104 having electric lighting and only 1 connected to a water supply system. Gostiņi had a municipal primary school, a six-grade Jewish primary school, a library, a medical institution and pharmacy (founded in 1878), 93 commercial establishments, and 69 industrial enterprises.

In 1956, Gostiņi was once again incorporated into the town of Pļaviņas.