Barons’ Cemetery and Chapel

The cemetery is a cultural and historical monument. Honouring the ancient times, the local people together with the descendants of the barons maintain the cemetery in good order. The hundred-year-old oaks guard the peace of the deceased barons. The does are happy to pass the cold winter nights near the chapel. In the summer, the silence is broken by the sonorous sounds of birds. The cemetery and the chapel were located away from the centre of the manor, in the Klāvani forest. The cemetery was consecrated in 1814. The plan was to make a set of equally sized graves with a similar plaque at each. One single cross should have stood up in the middle of this row of the humble graves. Between 1859 and 1865, according to the project of the architect Paul von Hardenak, a chapel resembling a small Gothic church was constructed. It had a marble altar, an organ, and stained-glass windows. During the soviet regime, the cemetery was destroyed and the chapel was demolished. It is still waiting for the renovation.

Legend:  

From the Jaunlaicene pub, the road led along the barons’ cemetery to the Kundziņi, where the girls’ school was located in the early 19th century. Father Simson, who was also a singer in the Moravian Church (Herrnhüter), worked there. One evening he had drunk a little bit too much beer in the pub and was on his way to the girls’ school. When he had reached the cemetery, a black carriage with four black horses was approaching him. The rider leaned out of the carriage, and invited Father Simson for a ride. Simson said that he had to go the other way. Then the rider got out of the carriage and called out to wrestle with him. Father Simson, pale with fear, took off his jacket, folded it and put it on a slope of the ditch. Then he spat in his hands and said, “Well, God, be my assistant!” As soon as he had said the words, the rider and the carriage with the horses disappeared. After the event Father Simson always told in his church that it was a bad habit to visit the pub and drink alcohol because it made a person see evil spirits.