The village of Ērgļi is located in the Vidzeme Upland in a picturesque setting of six hills, two beautiful lakes, and the third longest river in Latvia, called the Ogre.The name ‘Ērgļi’ comes from the German word ‘Erla’, which means ‘alder tree’, and was first mentioned in writing in the 14th century, when the settlement here came under the ownership of the von Tiesenhausen family. Over the years, the name ‘Erla' gradually changed to the Latvian word 'Ērgļi', which means 'Eagles', although the area is not actually renowned for having lots of eagles!It can be hard for foreigners to understand the complexities of Latvian territorial politics, the constantly changing status of local government institutions and the words used to describe them. Over the years, Ērgļi has variously been known as a district, a village, an urban village, a rural territory, a parish and a municipality. Since 2021, Ērgļi, along with the nearby villages of Jumurda and Sausnēja and the surrounding countryside, has been a district of the County of Madona, our nearest town. As of January 1st, 2021, the population of Ērgļi is 2055.In the late 19th and early 20th century, Ērgļi was a busy place with an active public and cultural life, with many locals who became famous personalities, such as the writer Rūdolfs Blaumanis, the brothers Andrejs, Juris, and Pāvuls Jurjāns who were well-known musicians and composers, and the poets Jānis Grots and Zinaida Lazda. You can learn about the local cultural and historical heritage at the Braki Museum, dedicated to Rūdolfs Blaumanis and the Meņģeļi Museum, where the Jurjāns brothers lived and worked.Our tour begins on the site where, in 1864, Ērgļi Lutheran Church was built. It was destroyed in 1944 during fierce fighting in World War II, but in 1956, on the remaining foundations, an administrative office building for Ērgļi District was built. When the district was later dissolved, the building was taken over by Ērgļi Agricultural School until 1967 and then, from 1973 to 2018, Classes 1–4 of Ērgļi School studied upstairs, with home economics and woodwork classrooms on the ground floor for older pupils. Local government offices and social services are still also located on the ground floor, along with the Tourist Information Centre and the Post Office.Upstairs, there is now a storage facility for artefacts from Braki and Meņģeļi Museums and a multi-generational activity centre which was opened in Spring 2022. Since 2000, the Art Department of Ērgļi Art and Music School has occupied the attics on the third floor. Next to the building, there is a memorial stone to local victims of Soviet repression, which was unveiled in 1996, and on the other side of the car park, you can see a clock which was presented to the village by the Mortgage and Land Bank of Latvia in 2006.