Mazsalaca

Mazsalaca (Piškisalāts, Väike-Salatsi, Salisburg) is a town in Valmiera Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It has 1269 inhabitants.

History
The area includes the largest known Stone Age burial site in Northern Europe and was first settled ca. 5000 BC. The present town began to develop in 1864, when a bridge over the Salaca river was constructed.

During World War II, Mazsalaca was under German occupation from 4 July 1941 until 25 September 1944. It was administered as a part of the Generalbezirk Lettland of Reichskommissariat Ostland.

In October 2009 a meteorite crater was found near the town, which later turned out to be hoax as part of marketing campaign of telecommunication company Tele2.

People
People who were born, lived in Mazsalaca:


 * Gustavs Ērenpreiss (1891 - 1956) - manufacturer of bicycles
 * Augusts Kirhenšteins (1876 - 1963) - microbiologist and educator
 * Valters Hirte (1913 - 1983) - craftsman
 * Ansis Epners (1937 - 2003) - film director
 * Oskars Perro (1918 - 2003) - soldier and writer