JÅ«rmala is a city in Latvia, not far from Riga. JÅ«rmala is a resort town stretching 32 kilometres (20 mi) and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River.
During the period when Latvia was part of the Soviet Union, it became a favourite holiday-resort and tourist destination for high-level Communist Party officials, particularly Brezhnev and Khrushchev. Although many amenities such as beach-houses and concrete hotels remain, some have fallen into disrepair. JÅ«rmala remains a tourist attraction with long beaches facing the Gulf of Riga and romantic wooden houses in the Art Nouveau style.
Imants Ziedonis, one of Latvia's most important poets and folklorists of the Soviet and post-Soviet eras, was born in the JÅ«rmala district.
Visitors can access JÅ«rmala from Riga in around 20 to 40 minutes either by train or by bus, or along the highway by car. Since 2008 JÅ«rmala and Riga airport are connected with a bus service.
In publications dating from the Soviet period, the city was occasionally spelled in English as Yurmala, an incorrect back-transliteration from Russian. |
