Ludza Municipality
Latvia's oldest town (first mentioned 1173). Livonian Order's easternmost fortress (1399). Now 30 km from Russia, 35% Russian-speaking, on the Riga-Moscow highway.
Ludza is Latvia's oldest town—first mentioned as Лючин in the Hypatian Codex (1173 or 1177), predating even Riga. The coat of arms features a key to commemorate this status. The town sits between the Big and Small Lakes of Ludza, where Latgalians built a wooden fortress on a hill.
The Livonian Order replaced it with stone in 1399, using Ludza as their easternmost outpost. The castle ruins still stand on the original site, Gothic walls beside a Catholic church. Today the Russian border is just 30 km away; the Riga-Moscow highway (E22) runs through town.
Catherine the Great took Ludza after the First Partition of Poland (1772), granting town rights in 1777. For 150 years it belonged to Vitebsk Governorate—administered from what is now Belarus. The 1920 Latvian-Soviet Peace Treaty brought Ludza into the new republic.
The population (~7,700 in 2020) is 58% Latvian, 35% Russian—a demographic split reflecting centuries as a border zone. By 2026, Ludza's position 30 km from Russia will define its future. The oldest town in Latvia faces the same question as the newest: which direction will history flow?