A Touch of Latvia
With this Welcome Gift we present to the NATO Summit guests a part of our heritage. In our hands, or on our lips, these essentials embody the enduring values that make Latvia a special place in the world for us. We cherish them so much we even sing songs about them.
Some say, we are few but precious. Our language and traditions go back thousands of years.
Some say we worship our mothers and summer. Our lullabies were born with the embracing winds of the Baltic.
Many things have made us what we are today. One way to experience the essence of Latvia is to feel the things we feel.
This is who we are – in subtle senses, in the poetry of the ancient folk songs and symbols.
Touch our history in the ethnographic mittens, taste and smell our summer in honey and cranberries with hot lime blossom tea, hear the magic – our music, and feel our winter warmth with Black Balsam.
Feel Latvia and take a little bit of Latvia with you!
| WHAT WILL BE GIVEN AND HOW MUCH OF IT? | WHERE FROM? |
| 4500 pairs of mittens | All over Latvia |
| 150 kg of cranberries and 320 liters of white honey | The cranberries were gathered in the north west of Latvia, near Alūksne. The honey was harvested in Zemgale. |
| 9 kg of lime tree blossom tea | From the Preiļu, Krāslavas, Cēsu and Valmieras regions |
| 900 liters of Black Balsam | Riga |
Riga Black Balsam – the legend since 1752
The traditions and history of beekeeping in Latvia go back very many centuries. The oldest evidence of beekeeping in Latvia has been established as far back as the 9th and 10th centuries. Beeswax and bee larvae colonies from the 11th - 13th century have been found and history has it that great volumes of mead were already being manufactured in the 12th century. Honeybees have always been something sacred to their keeper. The fact that the destruction and plundering of bee trees used to be one of the cruelest forms of vengeance only attests to this. The love and respect Latvians have for honey has not lessened over time. Today, approximately 70,000 honeybee colonies produce 600 – 800 tons of honey a year to add sweetness to our lives.
Why are Latvian summers best illustrated by lime tree blossom tea?
Latvia is famous for the fact that the oldest mittens have been found here by archaeologists. They are estimated to be approximately ten centuries old. The tradition of knitting mittens stems from the cold weather of Northern Europe; although it is worth mentioning that centuries ago mittens played a decorative role as well. By fastening them behind the waistband, they were worn in summer as a bijouterie and adornment. For several centuries they were the main form of gift and endowed with magical significance.
Latvia’s ethnographic knitted mittens are one of the treasures of Latvian culture and part of the wealth of Latvia’s ethnographic ornamentation. Mittens are symbolic of Latvia. Each of them will be a product of individual handwork whose quality is recognised worldwide and will be a special souvenir of Latvia, as every pair of mittens will be unique. 