Apriķi Church Becomes Tourist Magnet: Pastor Drives from Aizpute Like a Taxi Driver, But Without a Taxi

Apriķi Church is experiencing a real tourism boom that makes you wonder – are we cultural heritage saviors or have we secretly become a rural tourism agency? Parish head Inese Vīdnere, who lives in Aizpute, now drives back and forth more often than the Liepāja tram on Graudu Street.

Wedding ceremonies cost 300 euros, which, admittedly, is much cheaper than weddings in Riga, where for that money you can only buy the key to the church's front door. But as Vīdnere herself admits: "If people can't or don't want to pay, that's no reason not to marry them." Such an approach would cause shock in Riga churches – there they even ask for a receipt for holy water.

The biggest surprise comes from the influx of tour groups. Vīdnere admits: "I turned everything upside down and now I can't save myself." In summers, someone is on duty at the church all the time, as visitors come from Salaspils, Ogre, Madona. Of course they come – where else in Latvia can you visit a 17th-century church where admission costs whatever your heart gives?

Vīdnere sometimes takes money for gas from donations, but usually drives at her own expense. That's the true spirit of Liepāja region – we do things from the heart, not calculating every cent like in the capital. As one tourist said: "Here I feel at home, not like a paying customer."