Bruknas Manor (Bruknas muiža)

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.

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.

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.

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.

Worth knowing

• Shoes come off at the church door and visitors go in barefoot; the church has heated floors.
• As described in 2021, the church doors are always open, to people of all religions.