St. John’s Church

St. John’s Church is the second most notable architectural feature in Cēsis (along with the Cēsis castle complex), one of the oldest medieval monuments and one of the oldest cult buildings in the country. The church was built at the beginning of the 13th century as Christianity advanced into the Baltic, to serve the needs of the Livonian Order. Because Cēsis was the residence of the Order, Cēsis then became one of the most important centres of the German authorities in the Baltic States. The threshold of the church is exactly 100 metres above the sea level.
Fridays and Saturdays at 20.00, 21.00, 22.00 and 23.00 the church shines in glorious colors in a musical performance

During archaeological excavations, a well preserved speciman of scallop shell – the ancient symbol of pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela – was unearthed  under one of the windows of St John’s church. It is a historical and unique archeological find testifying to the fact that a pilgrims’ route to Santiago de Compostela passed through the territory of Latvia in Middle Ages. To honour this historical fact, a stained glass image of the scallop shell has been installed in the church’s side window just above the place of the archeological find.

Contact person for receiving the stamp (request to call advance)  – Mrs. Indra +371 29518015