Ventspils

Ventspils stands at the mouth of the Venta on the Baltic coast. Its name means the castle on the Venta, recalling the Livonian Order's stronghold around which the town grew. Chartered in 1314, it became a Hanseatic trading port, receiving goods brought down the river from the inland Courland river country.

Under the dukes of Courland, Ventspils became a shipbuilding centre. Its yards built warships and merchant vessels, and the duke's fleet sailed from here on voyages connected with Courland's ventures in the Gambia and Tobago. Workshops also worked wood, metal and amber. The Polish–Swedish and Great Northern wars devastated the port, and plague in 1711 killed much of the remaining population. In 1795 Ventspils passed with Courland to the Russian Empire.