Ainaži old lighthouse

The old Ainaži lighthouse stands on Latvia's eastern Baltic coast, close to the Estonian border, and was built in 1930 to serve the town's small harbour. In the summer of 1944 the harbour was bombed by the German Luftwaffe, destroying much of the port infrastructure and putting the lighthouse out of service. During the Soviet era the harbour was gradually rebuilt and the lighthouse returned to operation. Restored in the 1990s and opened to the public, the tower today offers views across the Gulf of Riga and the low, forested coastline of northern Latvia.