Ernest Schneider Square

Originally planned as a market square, it was known and used as such until the 1930s. In the 1950s, the square was renamed Pioneer Square. At the beginning of the 1990s, the square was named after Ernests Šneiders (1892–1948), a teacher, public figure, and founder of the village landscaping. On August 30, 1992 – the centenary of the teacher – a memorial stone was erected at 2 E. Šneiders Square, where the teacher had lived and worked.

The building, originally constructed as a pharmacy but later used as Pāvilosta Primary School, today houses the Pāvilosta Art School.

In 2014, a cultural-historical object – a lighthouse – was installed at E. Šneiders Square. Since the final resting place of many Pāvilosta fishermen is the sea, this object serves as a memorial to fishermen and fishing. Traditionally, the lighthouse symbol has represented safety, the shore, light, and refuge for fishermen in difficult times.

SEA ENCHANTED

Pāvilosta driftwood, 300 x 70 x 70 cm, year 2025

A meeting of Baltic and Indonesian cultures in a sculpture created by Okas Sutama and Kristaps Andersons, shaped like an imaginative boat. The sculptors refer to mythological beings that dwell in water—Gaja Mina and the Grass Snake (Zalktis).

Legend says that Gaja Mina, a giant fish with an elephant’s head, lives in the depths of the ocean, protecting and purifying gods, people, and other living creatures. At the time this myth emerged, the largest animal the first inhabitants of Indonesia had seen with their own eyes was an elephant, and when they first encountered a whale washed ashore, they called it an “elephant fish,” or Gaja Mina.

On the opposite side of the sculpture, Zalktis is depicted in ancient Baltic forms, as mentioned in the popular Lithuanian myth “Eglė—the Queen of Serpents,” which tells of a young girl’s love for the serpent king who lives in the Baltic Sea.

The sculpture was created within the framework of the project “In Memory of the Sea-Enchanted,” implemented by the association “Pāvilosta Cultural-Historical Environmental Center.”

Funding – Kurzeme Planning Region.

Foundation stone – a donation from the Ozoliņš family, “Rēķi,” Saka Parish.

Material and technical support – the administration of the объединība of Pāvilosta town and Saka parish.