Please wait!
21.05.2019
To inform the public about the activities of Latvijas Pasts in promoting nature and history values important to Latvia, at 12 noon on the 24th May of 2019 Šlītere Lighthouse of Dundaga Municipality in collaboration with the Nature Conservation Agency are holding a presentation ceremony for the stamp dedicated to Šlītere Lighthouse and released in the series Lighthouses of Latvia this year. The first day cancellation of the new stamp took place in Riga on the 15th of March, but to promote the recognition of philatelic releases, it is also planned to hold a special presentation event in the unique building of the lighthouse, which will furthermore take place on a special date when the European Day of Nature and National Parks is celebrated. It is expected that representatives of Latvijas Pasts, the Nature Conservation Agency and Dundaga Municipality Council will take part in the presentation.
The newest stamp in the Latvijas Pasts series Lighthouses of Latvia features Šlītere Lighthouse built in 1849, which stands on the edge of the precipice of the Blue Hills (Zilie kalni) in Dundaga Parish and is both the highest above sea level and the inland-most lighthouse in Latvia. The print run of the stamp Šlītere Lighthouse is 80,000 copies, and its face value is €0.90, which corresponds to the cost of sending an ordinary Class A letter within the European Union. The release of the stamp is accompanied by the issue of a special cover with a print run of 1,000 copies. These philatelic releases have been designed by the artist Arta Ozola-Jaunarāja.
The postage stamps are valuable elements of the Latvian state, which travel around the world on postal items, so Latvijas Pasts depicts both the remarkable objects of Latvian nature, history and culture and prominent personalities who have gained success in various areas. Thus, addressees on virtually all continents and in all countries of the world get to know about Latvia’s values and talents.
Šlītere Lighthouse, which is depicted on the stamp included in the series Lighthouses of Latvia, falls under the responsibility of the Nature Conservation Agency and has been recognised as one of the most interesting sights of 2019. Šlītere Lighthouse is located 5.3 kilometres from the Baltic Sea shore – on the edge of the precipice of the Blue Hills of Šlītere – and is a lighthouse that was constructed furthest inland in Latvia. The height of its tower is 26 metres and the fifth floor, which gives view to the Baltic Sea and the forests of the nature reserve of Šlītere National Park, is 100 metres above the sea level. Since 2018 Šlītere Lighthouse has had the status of a national cultural monument.
The lighthouse was built in 1849 by the baron of Dundaga manor for the purposes of forest fire monitoring and as a day-time landmark for ships navigating Irbe Strait in the Baltic Sea. The beacon light at the lighthouse operated from 1961 until 1999, but since 2000 the lighthouse has served as one of the tourism and environmental education objects of Šlītere National Park.
Latvijas Pasts started issuing stamps in the series Lighthouses of Latvia in 2003, and 14 stamps dedicated to different lighthouses of Latvia have been released in the series over this time.
The stamp and the cover Šlītere Lighthouse can be viewed here.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with around 4,000 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by Kantar TNS, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies Kantar TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Gundega Vārpa | Head of External Communications
Phone: +371 67608505
E-mail: pr@pasts.lv; gundega.varpa@pasts.lv
twitter.com/latvijas_pasts| facebook.com/latvijas.pasts| instagram.com/latvijas_pasts