Latvia's history is written not only in its archives — but in the farmsteads, townhouses, and manors where generations were born, raised, and buried. Through deportations, wars, and the great diaspora of the 20th century, millions of Latvians were severed from the land their families had worked for centuries.
Saknes — meaning roots in Latvian — is a living map built on the 1935 topographic survey of Latvia. It is a place where anyone can mark the property their family once called home, attach names and faces to those addresses, and find connections they didn't know existed.
Whether your family left Latvia in 1905, 1944, or 1990 — there is a place for them here.
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The 1935 Map
We use the pre-war Latvian topographic survey — the most accurate record of the country before the occupations. Streets, farms, and buildings that no longer exist are visible exactly as they were.
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Community Built
Every pin on the map is added by a person with a connection to that place. Saknes is not an archive — it is a living record, grown by the diaspora, for the diaspora.
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Global Reach
Latvian communities exist across Australia, Sweden, the USA, the UK, Canada, and beyond. Saknes gives them a shared place to gather around the land they came from.
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In Both Languages
All content on Saknes can be submitted in Latvian or English. We are building for the generation that remembers, and the generation that is rediscovering.