The museum was founded in 1954 in Ventspils as the Open-Air Museum of Sea Fisheries. It was opened to visitors on June 3, 1962. The author of the idea for the museum and its first director, Andrejs Šulcs, transferred the first boats, fishermen's residential and farm buildings, as well as a narrow-gauge railway train to the future museum.
Currently, the Seaside Open-Air Museum's collection consists of almost more than 27,000 items. The Seaside Open-Air Museum's exposition introduces the everyday life of the inhabitants of the Kurzeme coast and reflects the life of Latvian, Livonian farmers and fishermen. There you can see buildings typical of farmsteads, including windmills from Užava parish, smokehouses, smokehouses and net huts with exhibits typical of everyday life. The Seaside Open-Air Museum houses the Smiltnieku House - a typical suburban residential building from the end of the 19th century and with its degree of preservation it is unique both in Ventspils and in the urban environment of all of Latvia, and the Lielirbe Baptist Prayer House.
You can also see an extensive collection of sea fishing boats and the largest anchor collection in the Baltic States with more than 140 exhibits from the 17th century to the present day. The new Boat House has been opened at the Ventspils Seaside Open-Air Museum, which exhibits an extensive collection of restored boats and fishing items.
In the spring of 2024, the new Seaside Open-Air Museum building was opened, which houses the permanent exhibition “By the Sea and the Land: Traditional Lifestyle of Northern Kurzeme in the 19th-20th Centuries. Nature of Northern Kurzeme.” The multifunctional, modern building also houses the museum staff’s work spaces, restoration workshops, and an education center.
A favorite pastime and educational object at the Seaside Open-Air Museum is the Mazbānītis, for which a 1,4 km long Riņķa line and a 3,0 km long Kalna line have been built. During the First World War, such a means of transport was installed by German troops, and the railway line connected Ventspils with the seaside fishing villages. Since 1964, one of the few locomotives produced in Germany has been the property of the museum and delights visitors, thanks to the support of donors and the Latvian Railway Museum.
The museum celebrates both annual and city-important holidays – the Slavic festival “Maslenitsa”, Easter, the Sea Festival and the City Festival, the Parish Day and the Mazbānītis Festival. The museum is open to visitors throughout the year.
Seaside Open-Air Museum (May 1 – October 31)
Adults 6,00 EUR | 80 venti + 5,20 EUR
For schoolchildren, pensioners, students, disabled people of group III, upon presentation of a certificate 3,00 EUR | 50 venti + 2,50 EUR
Family ticket 12,00 EUR | 120 venti + 10,80 EUR
Exhibition admission 3,00 EUR
Joint ticket to all museums, valid for 3 days (May 1 – October 31)
Adults 9,60 EUR; Students, schoolchildren, pensioners, disabled people of group III, upon presentation of a certificate 4,40 EUR; Family ticket 19,20 EUR. Purchase at the Livonian Order Castle box office, Jāņa Street 17, Ventspils.
Seaside Open-Air Museum (November 1 – April 30)
Adults 4,00 EUR | 60 venti + 3,40 EUR
For schoolchildren, pensioners, students, disabled people of group III, upon presentation of a certificate 2,00 EUR | 40 venti + 1,60 EUR
Family ticket 8,00 EUR | 100 venti + 7,00 EUR
Exhibition admission 2,00 EUR
Joint ticket to all museums, valid for 3 days (November 1 – April 30)
Adults 6,40 EUR; Students, schoolchildren, pensioners, disabled people of group III, upon presentation of a certificate 3,60 EUR; Family ticket 12,80 EUR. Purchase at the Livonian Order Castle box office, Jāņa Street 17, Ventspils.
Free of charge
Groups for every 16 visitors (15+1; 30+2; 45+3); Group I disabled person and their accompanying person; Group II disabled person; Preschool children; Latvian museum employees upon presentation of a certificate; ICOM members.
Museum entrance tickets can be purchased using the Mobilly application.
Pedagogical programs are also offered: https://muzejs.ventspils.lv/piejuras-brivdabas-muzejs/pedagogiskas-programmas/