Liepaja Webcam – Rose Square in the Heart of the City

The Liepaja Webcam looks south across Rose Square, the green square at the center of Old Liepaja in western Latvia. A wide lawn and a big clump of old trees fill the middle of the frame, with curved paths and benches on the left and a street lined with parked cars below them. On the right, the tram line runs past the Rose Square stop, where red and white trams pull in beside the shelter. Office blocks, a Latvian flag on a rooftop pole and the spire of St. Anne’s Church close the skyline. In the foreground, zebra crossings meet around a small round lawn with a single tree, so pedestrians, cars and trams all pass through the shot. The square follows the seasons closely: deep green in summer, yellow and copper in October, bare branches through the winter.

About Rose Square in Liepaja

Rose Square, Rozu laukums in Latvian, is the traditional center of Liepaja, a Baltic port city of 66,746 people (2026) about 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of Riga. Liepaja itself is old: it first appears in a treaty of 1253 as “Villa Liva” and received town rights from Duke Friedrich Kettler in 1625. The square is much younger. Until 1910 the site held the New Market, and in September of that year the city council voted to close it and modernize the center. Within the next two years the square took its present name and layout, with lawns and an open-air rose garden.

During World War II, many of the buildings around the square and along Liela Street were destroyed. When the center was rebuilt in 1970, the square’s original layout was restored, and a later reconstruction in 2000 placed the emblems of Liepaja’s twin cities in the flower beds. One prewar building still on the square is the Latvian Society House, opened in October 1935 with shops on the ground floor and a branch of the State Land Bank upstairs, its strong room behind heavy metal doors.

Baltic Live Cam operates this camera and lists it as a view from the Liva Hotel, just north of the square. The trams crossing the right of the frame belong to the first electric tram line in the Baltic states, which opened on September 26, 1899. The double-tracked line is now 7.9 kilometers (4.9 miles) long, and Rose Square is one of its stops.

Weather and Climate in Liepaja

Winters here are cold rather than severe. January averages a high of 1.1°C (34°F) and a low of -3.4°C (26°F), and around the December solstice the sun is up for less than 7 hours, so the camera spends most of a winter day in darkness. In recent winters the city’s main Christmas tree has stood on Rose Square. Spring comes slowly, with April highs averaging 10.3°C (51°F) and lows of 2.3°C (36°F).

Summer is mild. July averages a high of 21.6°C (71°F) and a low of 13.8°C (57°F), and around midsummer the day lasts close to 18 hours, so the square stays light until late in the evening. October is still fairly soft, with highs of 11.3°C (52°F) and lows of 5.4°C (42°F), and it is the month when the trees in the frame turn yellow and copper. The city gets about 693 millimeters (27.3 inches) of precipitation a year.

Things to Do Near Rose Square

Holy Trinity Cathedral on Liela Street stands about 200 meters (660 feet) northeast of the square, behind the camera. Consecrated in 1758, it holds an organ built by Henrich Andreas Contius in 1779, with four manuals, 131 stops and more than 7,000 pipes, once the largest mechanical organ in the world. The cathedral tower, raised in 1865 and 1866, is about 55 meters (180 feet) tall. In the other direction, past the far end of the square, St. Anne’s Church stands on Kursu Square roughly 440 meters (1,440 feet) away. It is a Lutheran church dating from 1587, and Peter’s Market (Petertirgus), the city’s central market, is on the same square.

The Great Amber concert hall, designed by Volker Giencke, is a short walk from the square. To the west, Seaside Park runs along the coast behind an unbroken sandy beach and dunes, with the Peldu bath house among its trees. In the north of the city, Karosta is the district built for the Russian army, where parts of the fortifications that once ringed Liepaja were blown up during World War I. Lake Liepaja, a Natura 2000 site, lies on the eastern side of the city, with about a quarter of it inside the city limits.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

More cameras in Latvia, from Liepaja’s concert hall to the capital and a Kurzeme waterfall:

• Great Amber Webcam
• Riga Webcam
• Venta Rapid Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Rose Square located?

Rose Square is in Old Liepaja (Vecliepaja), the historic center of Liepaja, in the Kurzeme region of western Latvia. The city lies on the Baltic coast about 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of Riga.

What can you see on the Liepaja Webcam?

The camera faces south over Rose Square. A lawn and a large group of trees fill the middle, the tram line and the Rose Square tram stop run along the right, a street with parked cars runs along the left, and a junction with pedestrian crossings sits in the foreground. The spire of St. Anne’s Church rises above the rooftops in the distance.

Does the Liepaja Webcam show the beach or the port?

No. The camera looks across the city center, and neither the beach nor the port is in the frame. The sandy beach is to the west, beyond Seaside Park.

What is the weather like in Liepaja?

Liepaja has chilly winters and mild summers. Average highs run from 1.1°C (34°F) in January to 21.6°C (71°F) in July, and the city gets about 693 millimeters (27.3 inches) of precipitation a year. The webcam shows the current conditions in the center, from rain on the pavement to snow on the lawn.

What is the weather like in Liepaja in July?

July averages a high of 21.6°C (71°F) and a low of 13.8°C (57°F), so most summer days are mild rather than hot. Days are long, with close to 18 hours of daylight around midsummer.

Can you watch the Liepaja Webcam at night?

Yes. The stream keeps running after dark, when the street lights come on around the square and the junction. At night the picture switches to black and white, and color returns in the morning.

What is there to do near Rose Square?

Holy Trinity Cathedral and its 1779 organ are about 200 meters (660 feet) away, and St. Anne’s Church and Peter’s Market are a few minutes’ walk south of the square. The Great Amber concert hall is close by, and Seaside Park and the beach are on the western side of the city.

Source: Baltic Live Cam