Vijciems Čiekurkalte is one of the oldest in Latvia, still using the 100-year-old original equipment.

At the end of the 19th century, when Northern Vidzeme, especially the area around Vijciems, was hit by large forest fires, it was necessary to think how to restore the forest. It was decided to build a cone forge in the area to provide the necessary amount of seed for sowing the forest. And so, in 1895, a cone forge began work in Mežmuiža, near Vijciems, and continued to operate without interruption until the mid-1970s, when it was shut down. During this period, several large cone mills were built in Latvia, powered by electricity, which was considered a cheap source of energy.

The Vijciems cone mill was not in operation for more than 25 years. It was only thanks to the efforts of foresters, especially Miķelis Pētersons, a long-time forester of the Zīle forestry, that it did not turn into a dilapidated slum. All the equipment was preserved as it was when the cone kiln started work in 1895.

In 1992, thanks to the enterprise of the people of the Strenči Forest Inspectorate and the Forest Workers’ Association, after almost thirty years, the fire in the old kiln roared back. Since then, twenty-four cone drying cylinders have been turning every winter, usually from January to April. The original wheel is used to lift bags and boxes of cones up to the third floor, from where they are packed into the drying drums through special hatches. Again, the whole cone forge smells of resin and smoke in winter, again the cones open and the seeds fall out, the beginning of hundreds of hectares of new forest.

Today, the Vijciems cone forge is managed by the State Joint Stock Company “State Forests of Latvia”, successfully combining the core activities of the cone forge (about 200 hectolitres of pine and fir cones are processed here every year) with the preservation of historical values, as the Vijciems cone forge also functioned as a museum.

The Vijciems cone mill offers:

• guided tours for groups and individual visitors;
• demonstration of the cone processing cycle;
• information on the historical Mežmuiža complex;
• cone processing for forest owners.

If you go to Vijciems, you can create a wider itinerary, which, besides the Vijciems Cone Mound, also includes the Vijciems Hunting Castle, the Forestry and the Strenči Nursery, for which a ticket purchased at the Vijciems Cone Mound is also valid.

At the Vijciems Cone Mound, children can now experience the cone path – a play attraction has been installed next to the swing. Here you can crawl up a rope, crawl down a rope, crawl down a rope – enjoying how cones and seeds travel in the cone hill.

ADMISSION FEE

• Adults up to 10 people – 3.00 EUR (incl. VAT)

• Adults over 10 people – 2.00 EUR (incl. VAT)

• Children, seniors – 1.50 EUR (incl. VAT)

Photos from Valka TIB and mammadaba.lv