Bruknas Manor (Bruknas muiža)

<p>The Bruknas muiža complex takes in the manor house, two granaries, a cattle shed, a church and a small chapel on the bank of the Iecava river. The manor house was built in the middle of the 18th century and rebuilt in the middle of the 19th; in the early 20th century the building held a primary school, and in the Soviet period it was fitted out as flats.</p><p>The manor has regained close to its original appearance with the help of the people who live there. It belongs to a centre for the alternative treatment of addiction, the Community of the Beatitudes. Inside there is a library, a chapel underground and several halls; one of them is done in an Egyptian style, with drawings on the ceiling.</p><p>The church was built entirely by human hands and on donations, and it looks unusual for Latvia. A glass veranda has been built around it, with a cage of canaries, pots of flowers, and paintings and icons on the walls. Sculptures of the twelve apostles stand beside the church.</p><p>Next to the manor is a huge and very well-kept Renaissance-style garden. Sheep graze in a paddock, and horses walk in the distance.</p><h3>Worth knowing</h3><ul><li>Shoes come off at the church door and visitors go in barefoot; the church has heated floors.</li><li>As described in 2021, the church doors are always open, to people of all religions.</li></ul>