Liepaja Town & History
In brief
- 1253 Liepaja mentioned in records for the first time as Liva village – Liiva dorp in Liiv language (Liiv meaning sand).
- 1625 Friedrich, Duke of Kurland grants Liepaja city rights
- 1697 Excavation of Liepaja port canal
- 1876 Liepaja – Romni (Ukraine) railway opened
- 1890 Liepaja port modernised and enlarged
- 1893 Russian Tsar Alexander III lays the cornerstone of largest Tsar army navy base and port – after 10 years Karosta Canal and military town are completed
- 1914 110 000 people live in Liepaja
- 1919 For six months Liepaja becomes the capital of Latvia
- 1940 Liepaja becomes a significant USSR naval port
- 1967 Liepaja port commercial activities stopped, Liepaja becomes “a closed city”
- 1992 Liepaja port resumes commercial activities, first foreign ship disembarks
- 1994 Last Soviet army troops leave Liepaja
- 1997 Special Economic Zone established in Liepaja, facilitating attraction of investments and development of Liepaja economy
- 2003 Liepaja and Latvia votes for joining the European Union