Why do I want to go there? The real lucky ones are those who live there.
No matter how much we read about an ideal city with an ideal society, no matter how much we would like to believe in the existence of such a place, it is considered a fairy tale.And maybe utopia still exists?
We have prepared an article for you about the village near Cesis, which was built by the project of a Latvian millionaire.
If there were more places like this, the world would be a better place.
The Latvian millionaire has implemented a fantastic project in the vicinity of Cēsis.By buying 30,000 hectares of forest in a hilly area,
he built the ‘City of the Sun’, where special rules apply and people lead a completely different daily life.
According to the terms of the project, all the houses, of which there are 300 in the area, were built from environmentally friendly materials.
Each house is allocated an area of 0.4 to 1.3 hectares, on which there is a small lake and a forest.
All Amatciems houses are equipped with a central sewage system, special equipment placed under the roots of pines and firs, high-speed Internet and electricity.
Houses are heated mainly by heat coming from the earth. Each house has a geothermal heat pump with a 90-100 m borehole that converts the earth’s energy into heat energy.
This thermal energy is enough to heat the house and heat hot water all year round.And only in the cold days of winter, residents resort to lighting a fireplace, with which every house is equipped.
From the windows of each individual house (with rare exceptions) no other houses are visible. This became possible due to the hilly terrain and competent planning.
Fences are prohibited in the forest city.This is an ecologically clean zone with all the consequences that follow:
deer and other animals roam freely in the city, and nothing should interfere with their movement.
For the same reason, it is forbidden to keep dogs on a chain in the city, which can scare wild but harmless animals by barking. According to the conditions of the village, dogs can only be in houses.
I came up with the idea of building such a village when I realized that I wanted to live in my own comfortable house near the water, located in a beautiful place in the forest.
As a result, I created Amatciems, where my family lives today: me and my children and grandchildren,
my friends and associates, people with similar views on life, requirements for a place to live and the environment,’ said Aivars Zvirbulis.
I confess that at first I created the project based on purely selfish motives. I wanted to create a comfortable ‘residence’ for my loved one.
Based on and following the example of similar settlements in other countries and on the basis of my personal vision of how to live in a well-maintained place to be in harmony with neighbors and nature,
not to disturb the life of wild animals, the internal rules of the village were developed. These rules are made for people who share my vision, people who don’t see these rules as a barrier.
People who are willing to treat others with respect, whether it’s keeping quiet or maintaining their surroundings.
The rules, for example, provide that no noise can be made inside the village in the evening and at night, no fences can be built, and they also note that the dog is a friend of man who should not be chained.
My goal is to preserve the natural environment of the village as much as possible. I am trying not to turn the forest into a city park. That is why a flowered meadow adjoins a neatly mowed lawn.
Normally there are no fireflies on grassy lawns, but at Amatciems, hundreds of small lanterns light up in the grass after dark on a warm summer evening.
And from the ponds in the summer, a well-coordinated chorus of green frogs sounds, which I consider a great honor, because such frogs live only in a very clean and unpolluted environment.
I leave a dry or wind-broken tree in the forest for joy and as a shelter for woodpeckers, squirrels or foxes.
The balance of environment, applied technologies and aesthetics creates a memorable image of the village, which clearly shows that there is harmony between man and nature.’