The Old Town of Cēsis occupies an area of around 27 hectares. In the oldest part of the city of Cēsis, the thickness of the cultural layer reaches up to 3.8 meters.
Although Cēsis can only be regarded as a city since the 14th century, various archaeological finds, including a fragment of a hearth discovered in 2021 and the ceramic found in it, show that the area of the Old Town has been inhabited since the Iron Age, said Kalniņš.
The Old Town of Cēsis has been designated as the archaeological monument of the year to bring the archaeological heritage and its management in cities to the fore since the archaeological heritage in the urban environment is often seen as a barrier to the implementation of development plans rather than as an integral part of historic cities and an important cultural heritage, the association said.
