Tukums Municipality
Crossroads of three regions since the Liv era (11th century). Duke Jacob's captaincy (1617). The 2021 reform added 50 km of Gulf coastline.
Tukums straddles three historical regions—Semigallia, Courland, and Vidzeme—a geographic position that made it a natural crossroads and trading point. The name derives from Baltic Finnish languages; Liv settlements existed here in the 11th-12th centuries before the crusaders arrived.
The Livonian Order and Courland bishopric divided Tukums between them in 1253. A stone castle rose by century's end. When the Livonian Order collapsed, the new Duchy of Courland and Semigallia established the Captaincy of Tukums (1617). Duke Jacob's reign (1642-1682) brought rapid economic growth—the same era when Courland's ships reached Trinidad and Gambia.
Catherine the Great absorbed Courland in 1795 and designated Tukums a regional center. Town borders were mapped in 1800; the first urban plan followed in 1802. The 2021 administrative reform expanded the municipality dramatically by merging in Engure, Jaunpils, and Kandava—adding 50 km of Gulf of Riga coastline.
Today fishermen's huts alternate with modern villas along that shore. By 2026, Tukums must determine whether it's a coastal destination, a Riga satellite, or something distinctly Courlander—the crossroads identity that has defined it for 800 years.