Seda

 

Seda is a city in North Vidzeme, Strenči district. It borders Jērcēni parish and Plāņi parish. A little south of the city runs the railway line Riga - Valga, on it - the railway station Seda. 3 km south of Sedas is the main A3 motorway. Distance to the county center Strenči - 6 km, to Valmiera - 25 km, Riga - 133 km.

The wide streets with birch alleys and yellow houses of Stalin's classicism in such a clean and concentrated performance can not be found anywhere else in Latvia.

The largest company is the peat company JSC "Seda" (established in 1954), which extracts peat in the Seda moor, but there is a processing and packaging plant in Seda itself. Peat extraction is served by a narrow gauge railway.

 

Architecture

The city structure is very compact. The wide streets lined with birch and lime trees diverge in a star shape around a large central circular square, the Skolas laukums (school square) with the city administration building and the school. The architecture of the public buildings in the style of socialist classicism of the immediate post-Stalin era, such as the representative cultural center from 1959 and the school, as well as the simpler residential buildings, cannot be found as a building ensemble anywhere else in Latvia. Some of the prefabricated residential buildings that were otherwise common in the Soviet Union were later built on the outskirts of town. The hastily constructed, all yellowish buildings from the 1950s show traces of time and are half empty. In 2004 a shop building was converted into the Orthodox Church of Archangel Michael.

 

History

The swamp area "Seda" belonged to the Wolfarths Linde estate (today Jērcēni in Latvia). In 1938, a state-owned joint-stock company "Kūdra" (= peat) was founded to exploit the peat deposits. Until 1954, however, there was only a single farmstead in the forest and swamp area.

On August 5, 1954, the plan to build a peat factory with a workers' settlement was approved. Subsequently, an area north of the Valga – Riga railway line was cleared and construction work began. The project was advertised as an all-Union Komsomol project[3], so that young workers from all parts of the Soviet Union signed up. The population of the newly created settlement grew to 4,000 inhabitants, which made Seda a Russian-speaking island in northern Latvia. City rights were granted in 1991, although the population was already dwindling as a result of Latvia's independence and economic restructuring and is now only about a quarter of its original size. In 2006, 64% of the residents were Russian and 17% were Latvians. The remaining 19% are spread over 16 other nationalities. About half of all residents had Latvian citizenship. A third of them were pensioners.

The privatized operating company is the largest peat producer in Latvia.

The Seda station on the railway line from Rīga to Valga, which opened in 1972, was closed in December 2019 due to low passenger volumes.

Life in Seda is depicted in the 2004 film Seda. Purva ļaudis (Seda. The people of the swamp) is clearly presented.

 

Nature

Seda is located in the plain of the North Vidzeme lowland, Seda. The city is located in a swampy area, to the north of it stretches the Seda moor, where intensive peat extraction takes place. The terrain is flat, the surface height is about 55 m above sea level. The city is located a few kilometers north of the Gauja, to which the waters of the moor and the city's drainage system are discharged by the small Stakļupīte. The river Seda, after which the city is named, is located considerably further - more than 8 km north of the city, on the other side of the Seda moor.

 

The Seda Swamp

The 7,582 hectare swamp area is served by a 40 km long light railway network with a gauge of 750 mm, which is used for peat transport, but not for local public transport. After half a century, the peat reserves have largely been exploited. The resulting wetlands are home to a diverse fauna of partially protected animals and are important for migratory birds. Several hundred northern swans gather here in spring and over a thousand wild geese in autumn. A large area in the heart of the swamp is still in a natural state because all attempts to drain it have failed. Here tree roots were extracted from the swamp, some of which have been preserved for 3,000 years. In autumn the area is popular with blueberry and cranberry collectors. Mushrooms also grow in the drier forests.

 

How to get here

Railway transport
The Seda railway stop is located about 300 meters from the city limits. The railway service connects Seda with Riga and Valga, daily two pairs of diesel trains Riga - Valga stop at the station.
There is also a narrow-gauge railway running through the Seda bog and delivering peat to Seda JSC.

Highways
Sede is approached by the regional P26 Seda access road connecting the town of Seda with the A3 Inčukalns - Valmiera - Estonian border (Valka) motorway, which is part of the European route E 264.

Intercity bus service
The main routes are Seda - Strenci - Valmiera - Riga; Seda - Valka.