List of World Heritage Sites in Latvia

UNESCO lists sites under ten criteria; each entry must meet at least one of the criteria. Criteria i through vi are cultural, whereas vii through x are natural.[3]

Site	Image	Location	Year listed	UNESCO data	Description
Historic Centre of Riga		Riga	1997	852; i, ii (cultural)	Riga, founded in 1201, was a major Hanseatic city from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Not many houses remain from that period, as they were destroyed by fire or war. Later, Riga saw a rapid expansion in the 19th and early 20th century, when many Art Nouveau buildings were constructed. Riga has the highest concentration of buildings in this style in Europe.[4]
Struve Geodetic Arc*		Ērgļi Municipality, Jēkabpils	2005	1187, ii, iii, vi (cultural)	The Struve Geodetic Arc is a series of triangulation points, stretching over a distance of 2,820 kilometres (1,750 mi) from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea. The points were set up in a survey by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve who first carried out an accurate measurement of a long segment of a meridian – and along with it the size and shape of the Earth. Originally, there were 265 station points. The World Heritage Site includes 34 points in ten countries (North to South: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine), two of which are in Latvia.[5]

In addition to sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, member states can maintain a list of tentative sites that they may consider for nomination. Nominations for the World Heritage List are only accepted if the site was previously listed on the tentative list.[6] As of 2019, Latvia lists three properties on its tentative list.[2]

Site	Image	Location	Year listed	UNESCO criteria	Description
Meanders of the Upper Daugava		Daugava river from Piedruja to Daugavpils	2011	v, viii, x (mixed)	The Upper Daugava river valley features interesting postglacial landforms that formed 15-13 thousand years ago. The area has been inhabited for millennia and features several cultural landscape types - ritual landscape (sacred buildings, ancient burial grounds, cemeteries, and crucifixes), social landscape, economic landscape (urbanization, farmer settlements).[7]
Grobiņa archaeological ensemble		Grobiņa	2017	iii (cultural)	The Grobiņa archaeological ensemble comprises remains of the settlements and burial sites which date to the period between the 7th and the 9th centuries, when the Scandinavians started migrating overseas. Grobiņa was the settlement when they lived along the local Curonian population, which helped the cultural exchange.[8]
Kuldīga (Goldingen)		Kuldīga	2020	ii, iv, vii (mixed)	Kuldīga, also known historically as Goldingen, was first documented in 1242. As an important trade junction, it was a member of the Hanseatic League. The historic centre is well preserved and dates to from the late 16th to the 18th centuries, when the city was the seat of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia.[9]