Top 6 Free Things to do in Zemgale Region, Latvia

In 1609 to Bauska there was granted its seal and it is considered also as the year of granting of the rights of town. In 1615 the Duke Friedrich of Kurzeme granted to Bauska the privilege to construct the Town Hall Building. In the centre of market square there was already a small one-storied Town Hall Building constructed in the end of the 16th century that was now made bigger and higher. After a year the new building was ready for the Town Hall. It was a two-storied concrete building with an archway in the lengthened Eastern end and the tower with dome and steeple constructed in the timber frame and infill construction. Facades were temperately decorated only by volutes in the lowest part of the pediments of triangle type and by corner rustification. In the 17th century Bauska Town Hall Building was the biggest one in Kurzeme. In the basement of the Town Hall Building there was stored wine, on the first floor there was a flat of the servant of the Town Hall and the pair of scales of the Town but on the second floor - the room of sittings of the Town Hall and the work premises of the Municipality. Bell from the tower announced to the Town the important events. In the second half of the 19th century Bauska Town Hall did not have funds for the repairs of the Town Hall Building therefore in 1852 there was dismantled the damaged tower, in 1871 there was dismantled also the second floor of the building. The remaining part was reconstructed and rented out for shops. The eastern wing of the Bauska Town Hall was torn down in the 1970s, withno thought given to the historical and architectural importance of the building. The "Mūsa" cafe was built in its place. Despite the sad fate of the ancient building, the Restoration Institute had enough hope in 1988 to conduct an archaeological, historical and architectural examination of the building, and the architect Irēna Bākulede signed a reconstruction project for the Town Hall. The "Mūsa" cafe was torn down in 2002, and archaeological work was done along the eastern end of the Town Hall. In February 2010, the Bauska Administrative District Council began the implementation of the project aimed at the restoration of Bauska's historical town centre so as to develop a new tourism product. The project received support from the European Regional Development Fund, and one part of it was the reconstruction of the Town Hall which has regained its appearance as in the 17th century, after restoration of the turret and facades. The first phase of the reconstruction was completed in November 2011. In 2016 Bauska Town Hall reconstruction was finished with 17.-18th century interior. At the present at Town Hall there are Bauska Tourism Information centre and exhibition about Bauska Town Hall and "Weights and Measures", Bauska County Weeding office and Interior expositin.