Two young people - Elza and Nikolajs - are buried in Liepāja's Līvas Cemetery. Their love story has been compared to the fate of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The young couple committed double suicide because the girls' parents were categorically opposed to their relationship. More than 100 years have passed since the tragedy, and now a group of Liepaja cultural history researchers have decided to restore the tomb to show it to tourists.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Liepāja was home to a young pianist, Nikolajs, who befriended a girl, Elza. Her parents objected to their friendship and love because they believed that a musician's profession could not support a family.
In the end, Nikolajs shot Elza and then himself.
After hearing this story, Kristīne Jākabsone, a researcher of Liepāja's history, decided to restore the young people's grave site, which was overgrown with weeds at the time, with the approval of the Cemetery Administration.
"I still believe in beautiful love, and I feel very sad when it ends tragically. That is one thing. And the other thing is that this place needs to be talked about, these young people, this case of theirs," explained cultural history researcher Kristīne Jākabsone of her interest and initiative.
Several like-minded people have come to Kristīne's aid: a few days before Midsummer, soil was brought in, and this week flowers are to be planted, possibly including a rose bush.
Kristīne has cleaned and washed the cross herself, while art teacher Valters Palaps has restored the inscription on it.
"I believe that whatever stories we have and whatever events have happened, these legends make our city richer. We are such a small city - we should take care, protect and preserve all the little places and stories," said Valters Palaps,
Liepāja's tourism stakeholders also believe that such and similar burial sites should be restored, shown and told about to the public - because such stories also contribute to the city's visibility.
"Liepāja does not have the same kind of cemetery tourism as, for example, Paris for the Perlaches Cemetery or Venice for Brodsky's tomb. But it could be - I have taken people on a tour myself. You should go to the cemetery - in general, you should go to take care of it, to see it, to commemorate the people who shaped Liepāja, built Liepāja, created Liepāja - the Liepāja we show to tourists," said Nora Driķe, a tour guide and journalist.
There are not many such precedents in Liepāja when tombs are restored with the care of enthusiasts or local authorities.
For example, a few years ago, the then Grobiņa Municipality restored the burial place of the writer Zenta Mauriņa's father and sister and placed a tombstone in the Old Cemetery. However, the number of unmaintained gravesites is increasing with the passing years.
