Souvenir sheet of LATVIA 2006 - Mūra railway bridge over the River Rauna. MNH
The
railway bridge over the River Rauna is located near the P20 highway, in
Priekuļi parish. It can be viewed from the right side of the Cēsis-Valmiera
highway. The railway bridge is not intended for pedestrians and is watched over
by security guards. Built in 1889, the masonry bridge on the Riga-Valka railway
line is the highest railway structure of its kind in the Baltics. It is
24 metres high and 78.9 metres long. Trains, especially heavy freight
trains, must maintain a speed of 80 km/h. Higher speeds are not allowed on
the bridge. However, at lower speeds, the train is unable to deal with the
slight incline on both sides of the bridge and may start to slide backwards. In
June 1919, during the Estonian and Latvian Wars of Independence,
reinforcements to the Estonian Army, which also included the Northern Latvian
Brigade, were sent by rail across the bridge from Valka, which was at the back
of the front. When the 2nd Cēsis Infantry Regiment was forced to retreat
from Cēsis, its units strengthened their positions on the banks of the River
Rauna. The railway bridge became part of the fortification and ensured the
movement of Estonian armoured trains during the battles. During World War II,
on 4 July 1941, the bridge was blown up by the fleeing Red Army when
the Soviet occupation of Latvia was replaced by the German occupation. German
Army sappers restored the bridge within a week. After World War II, during the
Soviet occupation, the bridge over Rauna was of military strategic importance
and was heavily guarded.
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