Why did the Olympic Games not take place in Latvia .... or submarine repairs in Daugavgriva, Baltic Naval Repair Plant
When Moscow was preparing for the Summer Olympics in 1980, the question was: where to hold a sailing competition? It turns out that the choice fell initially to Riga, because there are ideal conditions for sailing in the Gulf of Riga and the city is also old and beautiful, will not be ashamed. However, some Rigans still remember or the younger generation has read on the Internet that Riga, as if .. has given up this high honor and therefore the organization of the competition has been moved to Pirita, a suburb of Tallinn. The Estonians received huge funding and built a new and modern complex for sailing and recreation, which after the end of the Olympics no one was traveling to admire .... But now one interesting nuance has been revealed - it has become known why Riga has given up this honor ...
Even in Soviet times, the bureaucracy apparently worked quite slowly, because the apparatus was quite huge and cumbersome. While this issue has been harmonized, someone has already figured out that due to the Olympics a new and modern highway should be built, which would connect Pārdaugava with Bolderāja and Daugavgrīva ... A new four-lane highway was planned and its construction was even started. If we are now driving from Pārdaugava in the direction of Daugavgrīva, then from the place where the take-off runway of the former Spilve airport can still be seen on the left side of the current road, on the left side of the road there is now a leveled pavement of about one kilometer. as if double wide. Apparently, this flat, now paved road with grass and bushes, sometimes even small trees, has been a started and unbuilt highway ... Now its remains can be seen almost until the turn to Kremeri. But then, why did everything stop and sailing was moved to Estonia?
The project and the idea were slowed down and stopped by the military. In Bolderāja, there was a Baltic Navy repair factory, which, as it turned out in the late eighties, repaired not only the USSR submarines, but also Iraq, because Saddam Hussein was still a friend of the USSR at that time. Libyan war sailors were also trained at the training base in Bolderāja. Mangaļsala was also nearby, where there were special antenna equipment, with the help of which NATO aircraft conversations over the Baltic Sea were intercepted. There may have been something else nearby that the Russian military did not want to post. Let us remember that at that time foreign yachts simply could not drive them to Latvia at all, because they would not pass through the Irbe Strait. Apparently, the Russian military did not want to reveal their secrets, which are hidden in Bolderāja and the Daugava estuary. Another interesting fact is that before the war, the Bolderāja shipyard a / s Vairogs is located in the Winter Port, in the same place where the submarines of foreign - USSR friendly regimes are being repaired in the eighties of last year. The decision to return it to the People's Commissariat of the USSR Navy was signed in September 1940 by none other than the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Latvian SSR, Vilis Lācis. Of course, this is not on his own initiative, but on the basis of a decision of the relevant competent USSR authorities at the time.
Nikolai Vladimirov, director of Spilve Airport; A.Pope, Riga main suburb, Riga, Zelta grauds, 2005.
Related objects
Daugavgrīva Fortress
Daugavgrīva Fortress (entry from Birzes street) is located on the Daugavgrīva Island where Buļļupe river joins the Daugava river. The fortress was built in the 17th century to defend from enemies moving in the direction of Riga, which was an important administrative, trade and production centre. Later it became the main fortification of the Latvian Army coastal defence with several support points. This defensive fortification system is one of the most valuable objects of Latvia's military heritage. This fortress has witnessed Latvian military history. For example, during the Crimean War (1853-1856) Latvian and Estonian gunboat crews were trained here. The main objective of these units was to protect local ports and the coast from attacks by the British navy. During World War I Daugavgrīva militiamen companies were formed here. These were the first Latvian combat units, which came even before the Latvian Riflemen. Nowadays it is possible to see the territory of the fortress. ‘Komētforts’ and the Seaside Nature Park are located nearby and Mangaļsala fortifications are on the other side of the Daugava river.
