Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Feliksberg

Johann Ulrich von Schwerin, who founded the predecessor of this church, was a German nobleman, who converted to Catholicism and married a Polish woman, Barbara Konarska. Later, Schwerin converted the people in his country to Catholicism with the help of the Jesuits. These catholic people called themselves "Suiti" - and they still exist. The Suiti are said to have isolated themselves from their Protestant neighbours and not allowed inter-religious marriages. In the course of this self-isolation, which lasted almost four centuries, a variety of Latvian emerged enriched with Polish, German, Lithuanian and Livonian influences. About 50.000 folk songs in Suiti exist. In October 2009, the Suiti culture was included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List and is thus protected.