Strategically seated on the banks of the river Daugava, archaeological evidence shows the place to have been inhabited as early as the first millennium B.C. Seat of an important Latvian (wooden) fortress up to the early 13th C.
After expanding eastwards, Bishop Albert of Riga built a stone fortress here in 1208. 1397-1562 Seat of Arch-Bishop of Riga.
The city (1277) of Koknese was part of the Hanseatic league, but the ravages of successive wars diminished its importance
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