Irbene

Irbene
Irbene
Ghost town
	Abandoned houses in Irbene in 2014
	Irbene Location within Latvia
	Coordinates: 57°33′53″N 21°51′46″E / 57.56472°N 21.86278°E
Country	Latvia
Municipality	Ventspils Municipality
Parish	Ance parish
Established	1971
Population (2019)
• Total	0
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Irbene is a ghost town (legally - village) in Ance Parish, Ventspils Municipality in northwestern Latvia. In 1971, the Soviet Union established the secret radar center Zvezda (Russian: Звезда, lit. 'Star') and built a settlement for military officers and their families, naming it Irbene because of nearby river Irbe.

The town had a school, shop, sport and concert halls. However, the town was not marked on maps.^[1] Only the holders of a special permit were able to access Irbene.

After the withdrawal of the Soviet Army in 1993 the town became abandoned.^[2]

Zvezda was later acquired by the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre in 1990s and is still in operation.

References

↑ Rasmussen, Johannes (2010). Travel guide : traces of the Cold War period : the countries around the Baltic Sea. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers. ISBN 9789289321211.
↑ "Vaiduoklių miestas Irbene" (in Lithuanian). niekonaujo.lt. 2010-10-22. Retrieved 2015-07-21.

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[Rasmussen-1] Rasmussen, Johannes (2010). Travel guide : traces of the Cold War period : the countries around the Baltic Sea. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers. ISBN 9789289321211.

[2] "Vaiduoklių miestas Irbene" (in Lithuanian). niekonaujo.lt. 2010-10-22. Retrieved 2015-07-21.

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[2]

A page that knows where it met you.

References