Saldus

Saldus lies on the Ciecere, a tributary of the Venta in Courland. A Curonian stronghold stood beside Lake Saldus until the thirteenth century, and the name appears in records from that period. Under the Livonian Order the surrounding district was among the possessions administered from Kuldīga. A wooden church dedicated to St John was recorded here in 1461, a sign of the religious institutions established after the conquest of the Curonian lands. The later settlement grew around this old church and the countryside of the Ciecere valley.