Pape Ķoņu village and ancient fishing villages

Kurzeme

Listen to the landscape

Pape Ķoņu village is a unique fishing village in Kurzeme’s cultural landscape. Examples of traditional folk-building traditions – rarely seen in their natural environment – can still be viewed here. Prior to World War II, there were 28 homesteads in the Ķoņu village, now only a few survive. The Vītolnieki fishing village of the Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum, located in Ķoņu village, has preserved traditional buildings with reed-thatched roofs. Visitors can also see a historic dugout boat, hundred-year-old fishing boats, and a variety of fishing gear in the barn.

The Pape Ķoņu village is part of the Pape Nature Park.
Pape has renewed the international tradition of gathering at the seafront on the last Saturday in August to celebrate ancient Bonfire Night, as a reminder that the sea that unites us must be protected.

Since 1966, Pape has been home to an ornithological station where birds and bats are caught and ringed during their autumn migration.