Riga - the Capital of Latvia, the "Pearl of the Baltics"

WHY RIGA?

Riga is very compact, key venues are within walking distance in the centre
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10 km from the airport to the city centre
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Key to the Baltic market of 7.5 million people
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Meeting point in the North on the fascinating East-West border
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Direct flights from 60+ destinations
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Linked to Star Alliance, flights from around 850 destinations in more than 150 countries
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Sea port with ferry traffic from Scandinavia and Germany
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Convenient train and bus connections from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus
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No capital in the world has as much Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) architecture as Riga
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Charming old town and city centre on the UNESCO World Heritage list
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Highest percentage of wooden architecture of any European capital
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World-class Opera and ballet
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Birthplace of Mihail Baryshnikov and Mariss Jansons
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Tempting cafes & restaurants
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Hottest night life in Northern Europe
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Diverse gourmet restaurants
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World Christmas Tree City
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Christmas tree decoration tradition started in Riga in 1510
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Double Christmas
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Europe's Christmas shopping destination
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Largest food market in Europe

Find the best Hotel in Riga at lonelyplanet.com!

Explore beautifully preserved architecture in medieval Tallinn, Art-Nouveau Riga or baroque Vilnius, the Baltics' dynamic capital.




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It's easy to stumble on Riga streets if if you don't look underfoot. Yet some clumsiness is very much in place if you happen to find yourself on Alberta, Elizabetes or Strelnieku streets .You may lose your balance from constantly looking up and getting carried away with excitement.

"Dad stretches out human profiles one and a half storeys high to adorn the corners of his buildings. Women hold out hands made of drainpipe iron (...) with gold rings on their fingers. It was interesting to watch the rain water stream down their perinea," Sergei Eisenstein said of his father, the architect of Riga's Art Nouveau buildings Mikhail Eisenstein

The legendary filmmaker was born in Riga and grew up in one of the Art Nouveau buildings at 6 Krisjana Valdemara Street, flat No 7. Drop by if you have some free time.

The historic center of Riga with "the finest collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe" , was inscribed on the World Heritage list of UNESCO in 1997 in part because of the "quality and the quantity of its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture".

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The Dome Cathedral is the largest cathedral in the Baltics. It was founded on St Jacob's Day in 1211 by Latvia's Teutonic conquerors under the bishop Albert von Buxhoeveden, who became its first bishop. In the past centuries the Dome Cathedral has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, so presently it is a composite of different architectural styles.

The oldest part of the cathedral is the altar build in the manner of Romanesque. Gothic style has left its traces in the architecture of Basilica; baroque is the style of the 18th century spire. Western entrance was built in the second part of the 19th century, and has the features of pseudo-gothic style. The first construction period was finished by 1270. After the last reconstruction that took place in 1776, the tower was raised to the height of 90 meters.

One of the highlights of the cathedral is the famous organ that was made in 1884 by a German company "E.F. Walker & Co". At that time it was the biggest organ in the world.
The organ has 6 718 pipes and is with wooden carvings from 17-18th centuries. This well-known historical monument became a symbol of the Old Town of Riga.

Click for precious details of Riga Dome Cathedral.

When in Riga dont miss organ music concerts The Riga Dom Cathedral.

Meantime enjoy the records on Ebay.

The origins of The Blackheads House date back to the 14th century, when a building was put up for the needs of city officials and tradesmen. The so-called The Blackheads House Blackheads Society, whose patron was St. Mauritius, took over the building in the 15th century, although the name "Blackheads House" dates back only to 1687. In 1713, the society won full ownership rights to the building. It once contained one of the world's richest collections of silver objects.

The building was completelly destroyed during World War II, but on June 29, 1995, the foundations for the structure that is seen today were laid. A memorial capsule was inserted into the foundations. Work on the restoration was completed in 1999.

Riga might have the highest concentration of wooden architecture of any European capital.

Excellent examples of wooden architectural fantasy can be found all over the city.

Up till the end of the 19th century there was a rule in Riga that more or less prohibited the construction of concrete building outside the walls of the old city and the citadel. Consequently the construction of wooden buildings in central Riga continued to flourish as it elsewhere in Europe was replaced by stone, brick, concrete and other non-wooden materials.

The tradition of using wood as the key building material in the city centre continued up to World War I. Even more so wooden city architecture experienced a renaissance in the 1930-ies.
Riga and Latvia have historically always had access to high-quality wood. In Riga high quality Russian craftsmanship traditions met with the best of Western architectural building traditions.

In some districts of Riga, for various reasons, complex wooden constructions of that time have still been preserved, and that is an amazing phenomenon in the 21st century. In 1997 the historic center of Riga due to this valued architecture was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Jesus Church (Latvian: Jezusbaznica, in the photo) is the largest wooden building in the Baltic states and can be found right east of Riga Central Market.