Penkule was first mentioned in historical documents dating back to 1272 as a village called Wanpen. Today, about 860 people call Penkule their home.

Our parish is located in the central part of the Dobele region, on the plains of Zemgale. In the southwest part of Penkule, the plains of Zemgale become the undulating lowlands of South Kurzeme.

Penkule has borders with the parishes of Bēne, Naudīte, Auri, Tērvete and Bukaiši. The distance to Dobele is 19 km, to Auce – 18 km, to Jelgava – 42 km and to Rīga – 80 km.

Penkule is rich in waters: the rivers Auce (16.3 km), Ālave (24 km), Govainis (11.5 km), Jugliņa (5.1 km), Rīgava (5 km) and Skujaine (4 km) all flow through Penkule.

There are three large artificial reservoirs in the territory of Penkule parish - Center reservoir (3.2 ha), reservoir “Dimzas” (11.4 ha), reservoir Skujaine (27.5 ha). 

There are 7 settlements in the territory of the parish: Sējas, Ezeriņi, Vecvagares (it got its name thanks to the house called “Vecvagares” which belonged to the former President of Latvia, Alberts Kviesis (1881-1941)), Skujaine, Baldonas, Ābeles, Ālave.

The other inhabitants of the parish have settled in farmsteads…

Long, long ago, the sun was as warm, aromatic and tasty like freshly tossed pancakes. The sun was just an arm’s length away. If a Latvian fancied a pancake, he only had to stretch skyward and gather a sackful of them. The magic was - that as soon as the Latvian gathered one sun and put it in his bag a new sun would appear!

As time passed the sun became larger and hotter and was no longer accessible, nor gatherable. One such place where once pancakes were readily got, now proudly carries the name “Penkule” (or pancake bag). The legend goes that the best place for pancake making, sharing and enjoying is in and around Penkule - for the best pancakes in the world!