Koknese (pronunciationⓘ) is a town in Aizkraukle Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the right bank of the Daugava River.

By the late 12th century, the settlement of Koknese had fallen under the loose sovereignty of Principality of Polotsk as a tributary sub-principality.

By 1205 in return for protection against Lithuanians and Polotsk, the Eastern Orthodox Church prince Vyachko (Vetseka) of Koknese gave half of his land to Albert.

During the Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658) the main Russian forces marched along the bank of the Daugava towards Riga, taking Koknese on their way and renaming it to Tsarevich-Dmitriev.

All vessels constructed in a shipyard of Koknese founded by the voivode Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin were used for the siege of Riga (1656) and later destroyed according to the Treaty of Cardis in 1661.

The Baltic German von Löwenstern family constructed a Neo-Renaissance manor castle which was completed in 1894; however, it burned down during the 1905 Russian Revolution.