Varakļāni

Varakļāni is a small town in eastern Latvia's Latgale region, now administered as part of Madona Municipality. Its compact size and calm, rural setting make it feel closer to a quiet country town than a busy urban centre, while its 18th-century manor heritage gives it a distinctive character.

The settlement was first mentioned in 1483 and later developed as a manor town under the Baltic-German Borch family, receiving market town rights in 1784. Before the Second World War it had a substantial Jewish community; in August 1941 most of the remaining Jewish residents were murdered by the German occupiers and their local collaborators, an event commemorated at the town's Jewish cemetery.

The central landmark is the neoclassical Varakļāni Manor Palace, built between 1783 and 1789 to a design by Italian architect Vincenzo Mazotti for Count Michał Jan Borch. The palace now houses the regional museum and is surrounded by a romantic landscaped park that includes the so-called Love Stone and the Jadwiga Chapel. Nearby stands the white Roman Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, built in 1843–1854, along with the Borch family vault.

Today Varakļāni functions as a quiet local service centre with small shops, cafés and a relaxed pace of life. It sits close to the lakes, forests and farmland of eastern Latvia, making it a practical base or stopping point for exploring rural Latgale and the surrounding Madona area.

For travellers, Varakļāni is best suited to heritage-focused day trips, slow travel and regional itineraries. Its main appeal lies in the manor palace, park and historic churches rather than large-scale attractions, offering an unhurried introduction to one of Latvia's less-visited regions.