Last summer (2017) I visited Daugavpils – second largest city in Latvia. It lies in South-East corner of country close to borders of 3 countries: Lithuania, Belarus and Russia. One of amazing things to see there is Daugavpils Fortress, also known as Dinaburg Fortress.

Building of fortress started in 1810 in fears of Napolen’s invasion into Russian Empire. However, due to French invasion and other obstacles in building it, Dinaburg fortress was fully completed only in 1878.

In Soviet times it used to be army base. Now it is bizarre mix of decayed Russian Empire and Soviet architecture.

It’s worth to mention that the fortress is also the site of the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art centre.