Memorial Ensemble for the Flooded Houses of Dole Island

The sculpture ensemble is located in the park of the Daugava Museum on Dole Island, in Salaspils Municipality. Between 1966 and 1974, the construction of the Riga Hydroelectric Power Plant resulted in the demolition of approximately 180 households on Dole Island, Mārtiņsala, Nolpe Island, and along both banks of the Daugava River in the Ķekava and Salaspils areas. For decades, former residents and their descendants sought to create a lasting memorial to the lost land. The ensemble was inaugurated on 9 June 2017.

The memorial was designed by sculptor Valdis Barkāns, a lecturer at the Art Academy of Latvia. The stones feature miniature representations of former homesteads, recreated from historical photographs, with the names of the destroyed homes inscribed on their surfaces. Fine dolomite pebbles surrounding the memorial stones form a symbolic current of the Daugava River, larger fieldstones represent the riverbanks, and a strip of grass running through the centre symbolises the part of Dole Island that was not flooded. The stones are carved with traditional Latvian folk ornament motifs.

The total cost of the ensemble exceeded 25,000 euros, funded primarily by the Rural Support Service, with the remainder contributed by the local government and private donors — among them many former owners of the commemorated homes. The site is freely accessible to visitors and forms part of the wider offering of the Daugava Museum and Dole Island Nature Park.

Address: Dolesmuiža, Salaspils rural area, Salaspils Municipality 
Phone: +371 29 481 832 
Website: www.dolesfonds.lv