Riga, Latvia, was founded in 1201, and has some wonderful old building in the centre of the old town, which have stood the test of time. St Jacob’s Cathedral, which was sited outside the old city walls, was built in 1225, to serve the surrounding villages. St Jacob’s is a beautiful building inside – two toned brick and plaster, and beautifully preserved. The Dome Cathedral, by contrast, was very austere and needed some upkeep! Apparently the interior décor was destroyed during the reformation, which is why it is so plain now. They are restoring the organ, which has taken some time and is nowhere near finished yet. We had originally thought we would go to an organ recital in the Dome Cathedral but when we saw the small part of the organ that appeared to be operational, we changed our minds.
We saw Riga’s oldest stone residential building, dating back to the 15th century, and the sign over the door indicated it was originally owned by a baker. We walked through the Swedish Gate, which is the sole remnant of 8 city gates and was built in 1698 during a period of Swedish rule. There is a cylindrical powder tower which is all that remains from a total of 18 towers that were once part of the city’s defences. Its 14th century foundations are among the oldest in the city but the rest of the structure was built in 1650, being rebuilt after it was destroyed by the Swedish army in 1621.
We walked past a building called the Cat’s House, which was rather amusing. It had two feline statues high up on the roof top at either end. The story goes that before world war one, a merchant who owned the building was refused entry to the Great Guild because he was Latvian and membership was reserved for Germans only. In retaliation he put two statues of black cats with arched backs and tails up – onto the roof, positioning them so that their backsides faced the Guild Hall. After a lengthy court battle, the merchant eventually gained entry into the Guild and turned the cats around!
We went out of the old town, moving towards the city area and saw the Laima Clock and the Freedom Monument. The Laima Clock was erected in 1924 with a practical purpose: to help inhabitants of Rīga come to work exactly on time. In 1936 the clock was decorated with the name and logotype of the country’s largest confectionery manufacturer, ‘Laima’. After the World War II, the clock was used for displaying political information. In 1999, the Laima Clock was fully renovated and returned to its look of the 1930s. The Freedom Monument, which is a very imposing high structure, was built to honour soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence, but these days it is considered an important symbol of sovereignty of Latvia, the unity, independence and freedom of the Latvian people.
We visited the Nativity of Christ Orthodox Cathedral. The Cathedral is the biggest Orthodox church in the city. Having served as a planetarium and a restaurant during the Soviet Era, the building has been completely restored as a church and holds regular Orthodox services. It was absolutely spectacular inside but we couldn’t take any photos. It would have made an excellent planetarium, but we are glad it is now a functioning church again!
There are some lovely parks around that area, which were lovely to walk through. Later in the afternoon, we visited the Central market, which is housed in 5 disused Zeppelin hangars, plus the surrounding outdoor areas. It is predominantly a food market, with everything from millions of strawberries and cherries and other fresh fruit etc, to fish, cheese, meat, nuts, cake, dried fruit, etc etc. It is one of Europe’s largest markets. A food shopper’s paradise!
