Everything belongs to you – meadows and ravines,
Sun and stars, and Gauja, and Rauna.
Ed.Treimanis-Zvārgulis

Edvards Treimanis was born on 2 October 1866 in Rauguli, Priekuļi parish, in the family of the innkeeper Jānis Treimanis. Later, when he started publishing, he adopted the pseudonym Zvārgulis.

He was a Latvian poet, satirist, actor, civil servant, politician and book publisher, one of the most popular authors and couplets of the turn of the 19th/20th centuries. Since the 1930s, Zvārgulis’s popularity has been declining.

Edvards Treimanis-Zvārgulis built the house “Leukadijas” (“Villa Leukadia”) together with Kārlis Veidenbaums near the mouth of the Gauja River in 1900. The beautiful surroundings prompted the name of the place, inspired by Leucadia, a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. The poet lived in Leucadia during the summers and permanently from 1919 until his death in 1950. After the death of K. Veidenbaums, Treimanis bought the part of Karl’s house from the Veidenbaums family.

Treimanis – Zvārgulis was also a schoolmate, friend and the first publisher of Eduard Veidenbaums’ copied writings, for which he spent a short time in prison during the Russian Empire.

Leukādijas was built as a wooden structure to serve as a summer house. Vēlākos gados māja apšūta ar baltu šūnakmeni no tagadējās Kazu gravas, kur agrākos laikos ir bijušas šūnakmens lauztuves. There are 10 rooms in the Leukadiai, one of which is a memorial room where some of the poet’s manuscripts, photographs and memorabilia are on display. The poet is buried in the garden of the house, and a monument by Kārlis Jansons has been erected at his grave. Nearby is the mouth of the Gauja River, which is also described in the poet’s works. Leukādijas is included in the State List of Protected Cultural Monuments.

From September until the end of the year, the “Zvargulis Festival” dedicated to the poet takes place in Riga, Cēsis and Leukādijas.

To visit the family home of the poet E.T.Zvargulis in Leukādijas, please make an appointment in advance. Contact by phone 26370048, 29332877 or by e-mail: treimanim@gmail.com

Coordinates – 57.3640 25.3647