Šembeļi was a village in Preiļi Municipality in the Latgale region of Latvia.

[1] It is located 219 kilometers from the capital city of Latvia, Riga.

During the Russian Empire period, the Saint Petersburg–Warsaw railway line was built nearby the village in 1860.

[2] Towards the end of 19th century, pottery craft was common in Šembeļi.

[3] In 1896, there was born the famous Latgalian ceramicist Andrejs Paulāns, who was awarded with a Gold Medal at the Paris Exhibition in 1937.