Valka

Valka, historically known as Walk, lies in inland Livonia on the Pedele River. The settlement was recorded in Riga's debt register in 1286 and became a meeting place for assemblies of the Livonian Confederation from the fifteenth century. Its central position made it useful to representatives travelling from different parts of Livonia.

After the Livonian War, King Stephen Báthory granted Walk town rights in 1584. The town suffered heavily in the Great Northern War in the early eighteenth century.