Section 13. Miķeļtornis village – Sīkrags village. Great wave sea.

The village is situated on both banks (“jūrspuse” or “seaside” and “zemspuse” or “landside” in the dialect of the Western part of Latvia) of the Irbe River (also called Dižirve, Īra) extending for 6 km around where the river flows into the sea. In 1939, there were around 300 inhabitants and more than 70 houses in the village. A little narrow gauge train used to run through the village, connecting it with the center of the district, Ventspils, and Dundaga, Stende and further on to Riga. At the estuary of the Irbe River, there used to be a port of the ancient Livonian seafarers. This seacoast that is now so quiet with only 10 houses used to be an active timber trade and transport center at the end of the 19th century.

The pedestrian bridge crosses the Ķikans Brook in a place where the narrow gauge railway used to run connecting Ventspils, Mazirbe and Stende; the locals call it the narrow gauge track. The railway was active up until 1963. When going via the track and the unpaved road by bike or on foot, you can even reach the bridge across the Irbe River on the road connecting Ventspils and Kolka.

Among the eldest Livonian settlements mentioned in written sources already in 1387. In 17th century, this is where an important small port on the Northern Kurzeme coast was established; at that time, Sīkrags was larger than the village of Mazirbe. Some think that the first church of Irbe congregation was located in Sīkrags, built in the second half of the 17th century. And the old cemetery standing on a hillock next to the former church location is still visible in the centre of the village.

During the first independence years of Latvia, Sīkrags was among the most busy Livonian fishermen villages with some 60 active fishermen. Livonian as a language played a significant role, and out of the 193 inhabitants of Sīkrags 85 (44%) were Livonian. Nearly all Livonian families still used Livonian for everyday communication. In 1922, the first Livonian choir was established. Individuals important to Livonian culture scene, born and brought up in Sīkrags — musician and conductor Hilda Grīva (1910–1984), preserver of Livonian language, story-teller and poet Pēteris Dambergs (1909–1987), graphic artist Baiba Damberga (born in 1957). 

Sīkrags bears the status of an urban construction monument of national significance since 1983. The protection zone covers the former village centre and the houses “Ķeļķi”, “Jaunklāvi”, “Kilāsidāmi”, “Vīnamegi”, “Baznīckalns” and “Vecvalki” (“Ķirškalni”). Nowadays, it is busy in summers, while during winter only some families live here permanently.