You Can Sleep Under the Stars at These Glass-and-Steel Cabins in Latvia

The Ziedlejas Wellness Resort offers an unforgettable glamping experience—and the ultimate introduction to Latvia’s sauna culture.

Apr 8, 2021 - 02:17

You Can Sleep Under the Stars at These Glass-and-Steel Cabins in Latvia

The Ziedlejas Wellness Resort offers an unforgettable glamping experience—and the ultimate introduction to Latvia’s sauna culture.

Nestled into a grassy hillside, the cabins overlook ponds and oak, birch, and linden trees that grow on the property.

If you’re looking for a relaxing retreat once travel picks up again, you might consider a stay at the Ziedlejas Wellness Resort in Krimulda, Latvia. Here, architect Zane Tetere-Sulce of Open AD has woven three 159-square-foot cabins into the idyllic landscape. "The Ziedlejas territory forms a sort of valley, where three hillside cabins overlook ponds in the center," Tetere-Sulce says.

The cabins and sauna that architect Zane Tetere-Sulce designed for the Ziedlejas Wellness Resort are clad with Cor-Ten steel and glass.
Photo by Alvis Rozenbergs

The resort is set in a cinematic landscape near Gauja National Park, where old-growth trees and brilliant green grassland surround clear ponds. During the Soviet era, the site hosted a scientific research station that conducted plant experiments—and there was also a sauna.

"In Latvia, before there was running water, the sauna was the bathroom and every farmstead had one," Tetere-Sulce says. "The sauna tradition was, and still is, a cleansing ritual for the body, mind, and soul. As the cleanest spot in the home, it’s where women gave birth, so it holds a hefty amount of symbolic meaning about the beginning of life. One could also say the sauna was our ancestors’ version of therapy."