Mazirbe

Village in Latvia

Village in Talsi Municipality, Latvia

Mazirbe Livonian: Irē
Village
Livonian culture centre in Mazirbe with flags on display during annual meeting.
Motto: Cultural capital of the Livonians.
57°41′N 22°19′E / 57.683°N 22.317°E / 57.683; 22.317
Country	Latvia
Municipality	Talsi Municipality
Parish	Kolka Parish
Elevation	13 ft (4 m)
Population (2005)
• Total	134
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	LV-3273 Mazirbe

Mazirbe (Livonian: Irē or Piški Īra, German: Klein-Irben) is a village place in Kolka Parish, Talsi Municipality, Latvia 18 km southwest of Kolka. It is one of twelve Livonian villages on Līvõd rānda - the Livonian Coast. Mazirbe is the cultural capital of the Livonians.

The modern Livonian flag (introduced in the 1920s) is green for the forests, white for the sandy beaches of the coast, and blue for the sea. Since the cultural awakening known as the Atmoda, it has flown over the Livonian House of the People (Latvian: Lībiešu tautas nams or Līvu tautas nams, Livonian: Līvõd rovkuodā), a cultural centre dating from 1938 built in the heart of the village with the support of linguistic cousins in Hungary, Finland and Estonia. Inside is a small museum showing photos of past generations of Livonians. On the first Sunday of August there is a Livonian gathering here, culminating in a procession to the beach where a wreath is cast into the sea in remembrance of fishermen who have met watery deaths. A camp for young people where only Livonian is spoken is held for a week beforehand. The Mazirbe plague stone is a unique feature of the village.

References

Viksna AA (March 1972). "[Mazirbe plague stone—historical-medical monument in Latvia]". Zh. Mikrobiol. Epidemiol. Immunobiol. (in Russian). 49 (3): 140–1. PMID 4553059.