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Staburags Parish

Coordinates: 56°32′34″N 25°31′00″E / 56.5427°N 25.5166°E / 56.5427; 25.5166
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Staburags Parish
parish of Latvia
Coat of arms of Staburags Parish
Coat of arms
56°32′34″N 25°31′00″E / 56.5427°N 25.5166°E / 56.5427; 25.5166 Edit this at Wikidata
CountryLatvia
Area
[1]
 • Total
58.54 km2 (22.60 sq mi)
 • Land56.51 km2 (21.82 sq mi)
 • Water2.03 km2 (0.78 sq mi)
Population
 (1 January 2024)[2]
 • Total
327
 • Density5.6/km2 (14/sq mi)

Staburags Parish (Latvian: Staburaga pagasts) is an administrative unit of Aizkraukle Municipality in the Selonia region of Latvia. Covering 58.5 km2 on the forested left bank of the Daugava River where it widens into the Pļaviņas Reservoir, the parish is one of the most sparsely populated areas in Selonia with just 327 residents as of January 2024. The parish takes its name from the now-submerged Staburags cliff, an 18-metre travertine formation that was a Latvian cultural and natural landmark until it was flooded in 1965 during the construction of the Pļaviņas hydroelectric dam. The parish features a memorial ensemble at the former Vīgante Manor estate that commemorates the lost cliff through interpretive displays, walking paths, and cultural elements honouring both the natural formation and its place in Latvian literature and music.

Description

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Staburags Parishcovers 58.5 km2, of which 2.0 km2 is open water, on the forested left bank of the Daugava where the river widens into the Pļaviņas Reservoir. Shallow drift soils overlie gently undulating Ordovician dolomite; arable strips and orchards concentrate around the administrative village of Staburags, while scattered farmsteads line the Vīgante and Siliņi streams and a parish road links the A6 Riga–Daugavpils highway to lakeside camping areas in Vīgante Park. The Central Statistical Bureau counted 327 residents on 1 January 2024, for a population density of just 5.6 inhabitants per square kilometre, making the parish one of the most thinly settled parts of Selonia.[3][4]

Created as a rural district in 1945, Staburags Parish was suppressed in the 1949 Soviet local-government reform, re-established in 1990 and incorporated into Jaunjelgava Municipality in 2009; Latvia's nationwide territorial reform of 1 July 2021 transferred it to the enlarged Aizkraukle Municipality, where it remains.[5] The parish takes its name from the travertine cliff Staburags (also called Staburadze), an 18-metre spring-built crag that dominated the Daugava valley until 1965, when it was submerged beneath 6.5 m of water during construction of the Pļaviņas hydroelectric dam.[6] Latvian folk tradition personifies the travertine cliff as Staburadze—a grieving maiden whose tears were turned to stone—while its loss beneath the Pļaviņas reservoir in 1965 helped spark Latvia’s first modern environmental protest and later served as a rallying symbol for the independence-era green movement.[6][7][8]

A memorial ensemble on the former Vīgante Manor estate now interprets the vanished landmark. Riverside paths lead to a log amphitheatre used for midsummer concerts and to a lookout marking the cliff's exact position, while panels explain the geological and cultural story.[9] In 2013 woodcarvers added figures of Jancis and Mārčs—the protagonists of Valdis's 1930 children's novel Staburaga bērni—and a lakeside pavilion honours composer Pēteris Barisons, whose choral works premiered here in the 1930s.[10]

Towns, villages and settlements of Staburags Parish

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References

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  1. ^ "Reģionu, novadu, pilsētu un pagastu kopējā un sauszemes platība gada sākumā". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Iedzīvotāju skaits pēc tautības reģionos, pilsētās, novados, pagastos, apkaimēs un blīvi apdzīvotās teritorijās gada sākumā (pēc administratīvi teritoriālās reformas 2021. gadā)". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  3. ^ "RIG010. Population in regions, cities, municipalities, towns, rural territories and villages at the beginning of the year" [Population at the beginning of the year]. Oficiālās statistikas portāls (in Latvian). Centrālā statistikas pārvalde. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  4. ^ "DRT010. Total and land area of regions, cities, municipalities and parishes at the beginning of the year" [Area at the beginning of the year]. Oficiālās statistikas portāls (in Latvian). Centrālā statistikas pārvalde. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  5. ^ "Staburaga pagasts (Aizkraukles novads, Latvija)" [Staburags Parish]. NLL Ģeogrāfisko nosaukumu ontoloģija (in Latvian). Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  6. ^ a b "New movie about the Daugava River in Latvia". Global Water Partnership. 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  7. ^ Loader, M. (2018). "'Opening the Floodgates': The 1958 Pļaviņas Hydroelectric Dam Affair in Soviet Latvia" [Opening the Floodgates]. ASEEES Annual Convention Paper. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  8. ^ Balaban, K. (29 August 2023). "The fate of the Daugava: How the fight to save a river gave rise to Latvia's independence movement" [The fate of the Daugava]. Meduza. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  9. ^ "Memorial site of cliff Staburags and Vīgante manor park". Visit Aizkraukle. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  10. ^ "Pastaiga Vīgantes muižas parkā" [Walk in Vīgante Manor Park]. Visit Aizkraukle (in Latvian). 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
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