Cēsis — Forests, History, and Culture in Harmony

Hello everyone,
Today I’ll be talking about Cēsis — Forests, History, and Culture in Harmony.
Cēsis is one of Latvia’s most beautiful and historically rich towns, and it’s also a great example of
how forests and urban life can coexist in balance.
In this presentation, I’ll show how Cēsis has grown around its forests, how these green areas shape
the town’s identity, and what we can learn from it for urban forestry.
Slide 3 – Location and Background of Cēsis
Cēsis is located in the Vidzeme Upland, about 90 kilometres from Riga.
It’s surrounded by hills, valleys, and dense forests, and lies on the edge of the Gauja National Park
— Latvia’s oldest and largest national park.
The town has a population of around fifteen thousand people, but it feels much larger in natural
scale because of its forests, lakes, and green slopes.
Nature and the town’s structure are tightly linked — forests are part of daily life…