Kurzemes pirmās baznīcas vieta
Site of the First Church in Courland

Summary/Abstract: Adam of Bremen mentions a church built by a Danish merchant in Courland around 1060–1070. Four hypotheses have been put forward for the location of its location in norrthen Courland: the mouth of the Irbe River (Watson, 1822a); the village of Oste on the cliff of the Blue Mountains (Ludvigs 1967); near Puišakalns (Draviņš 1969) and near Muniņi (Stepiņš 1988). In 2019, a relief transformation, named Kaļķu pilskalns enclosed by a moat and a rampart between two steep ravines was discovered near Puišakalns. Its location exactly corresponds to the prediction and reasoning of Kārlis Draviņš, who believed that the castle on the nearby hillfort – Puišakalns – would have served to protect the supposed ancient Danish trading post, while the church could have been located on the cliff of the Dundaga Upland not far from the hillfort. Sea traffic could have been ensured via the Roja River and its tributary Pilsupe, which flow into the Gulf of Riga. The place could have been connected to the sea by the net of rivers. Opposite the place to be described, on maps of the 17th–18th centuries, a bay on the shore of the Gulf of Riga was called Kappelwÿk – Church Bay. If it is rightly believed that the Danish church was also an important shipping landmark of its time, then the Kaļķi hillfort is very suitable as the location of such a landmark. It is located on the edge of the steep sea coast and for sailors from the Gulf of Riga, the silhouette of the church tower on the cliff would be clearly visible. The new discovery of the Kaļķi hillfort allows Draviņš’s hypothesis to be developed further and evaluated in a new light.

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