Tirza holy spring

It is one of the ancient cult sources of Latvia.

Svētavots is located in Tirza parish, Gulbene district. The easiest way to find it is to first arrive in the very center of Tirza and visit the Tirza Lutheran Church at the top of a high hill. Svētavots is located in the valley of the river Tirza, opposite it, near the house of Zvanuleja. Once upon a time, it flowed from the depths of the earth into a natural bed, but today it is landscaped. A canopy was built at the spring and the inscription "Svētavots - cult place" was placed next to it.

Written information about the sacred spring has been available since 1748, but it is described in more detail in 1832, when it was viewed by Pastor K. Schilling. He described the bustle of the people around the spring, the traditions and the rituals of the cult.

According to the story, the healing power of the spring water is given by the fact that the water flows from the bottom of the cemetery and the church. Legends also tell about the source. The spring has a special healing power only on Midsummer night.

The first information about the beginning of the use of the source is related to the Swedish-Russian war period (1700 - 1721), when a severely wounded officer washed himself here and recovered.

Jānis Poruks has also depicted the Holy Spring of Tirza in his work "Klibais Ješka".

In 1996, at the end of the source identification competition, the Holy Spring of Tirza was recognized as one of the winners of the competition.

The list of information source can be found here .