Balvi (pronunciation (help·info)) is a town in Balvi Municipality in the Latgale region of Latvia. It was the administrative seat of the region (Latvian: rajons) of the same name since 1949; prior to the occupation of Latvia it was part of the Abrene district. The name derives from the stream Bolupīte and the adjacent lake. The first mention of Balvi was in 1224. A small wooden church and manor were constructed on the estate of a Polish noblewoman Konstancija Hilsena at the site ca. 1765. When Latgale came under Russian rule in 1772, the estate was granted to the Yelagin family by Catherine II. In 1806 it passed to the Horozhinsky family and in 1876 the estate was purchased by the Baltic German Transehe-Roseneck family. The village was separated from the estate in 1915, and Balvi received town rights in 1928. More information...
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