Riga travel guide
With a population of nearly a million, Riga is the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the Baltic States. It almost seems too big for the country it occupies: roughly a third of the nation lives in the Latvian capital. Spread either side of the River Daugava, the city lies some 8km (5 miles) from the great sagging dip of Riga Bay, and for some 3,000 years these warm waters have provided both a gateway and an outlet for the continental heartlands. Like Tallinn in Estonia, its skyline is an impressive collection of towers and spires. Expertly manicured parks, a meandering canal that once served as a moat and tree-lined boulevards separate the Old Town from the sprawling “new” city. Riga’s status as a Unesco World Heritage Site is more than evident in its medieval churches, guild halls and winding cobblestoned streets, as well as in its ornately decorated Art Nouveau buildings, many of which have been lovingly restored to their original 19th- and early 20th-century grandeur.
A final blessing for Riga’s citizens and an ever-growing number of foreign visitors is Jurmala, the lovely sandy beach just a half-hour’s drive from the city centre. This collection of seaside residential towns spread out over 20km (12 miles) has been favoured by generations of holidaymakers from its beginnings as a 19th-century spa to its heyday as a fashionable haunt in the 1930s and later the premier destination for rest and relaxation in the Soviet Union.
Places to visit in Riga
Cathedral Square
All streets in the Old Town lead to Cathedral Square (Doma laukums), the cobbled focal point of the Old City, where tourists pose for photos in front of the largest church in the Baltics and then spend far too much money for a drink at a beer garden with a view. Riga Cathedral (Doma baznica), or St Mary’s, is a magnificent red-brick structure, with a gable like a Hanseatic merchant’s house and a bulbous dome of northern Gothic solemnity. Steps lead down to the north door because the city’s constant rebuilding has meant the ground level has actually risen over the years.
Next door, the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation (Rigas vestures un ku?gniecibas muzejs) is an eclectic collection of historical items and memorabilia, and does not have too much to do with the sea. Its scope is very wide and it is one of the best museums in the city, reflecting the wealth of its merchants.
Occupation Museum
The former Museum of the Latvian Red Riflemen is home to the excellent and chilling Occupation Museum (Okupacijas muzejs). The museum retraces Latvia’s plight under the Nazi and Soviet occupations from 1940 to 1991, with explanations in English, German and Russian. The moving exhibit depicts the life of Latvians deported to Siberia and those who fought the Soviets in the forests. The museum is important for anybody interested in recent Latvian history
Riga Castle
The Swedes redesigned Riga Castle (Rigas pils) in 1652. The first castle was built here in 1330 by the Livonian Order, who later decamped to Cesis. In 1481, in one of many internecine wars within the city, it was razed by the townspeople, but the Livonian Order returned to besiege the town 34 years later, eventually prevailing and forcing the locals to rebuild it. Today it houses two museums of interest: History of Latvia (Latvijas vestures muzejs) and Foreign Art (Arzemju makslas muzejs).
The Three Brothers
The Three Brothers (Tris brali) are the oldest residences in the city, merchants’ homes of almost doll’s-house proportions dating from the 15th century. They have been colourfully restored, and they show how the families would live on the lower floors while leaving the upper areas for storage. One of them is home to the city’s small Museum of Architecture (Arhitekturas muzejs).
Riga Art Nouveau Museum
The Riga Art Nouveau Museum (Rigas Jugendstila muzejs) is located on the ground floor and is intended to look like the original apartment designed by Pekšens, who lived there. All seven rooms, including the bathroom and kitchen, contain Art Nouveau fixtures and furniture. Two other famous people lived here: the artist Janis Rozentals (1866–1916) and the writer Rudolfs Blaumanis (1863–1908). The Rozentals and Blaumanis Museum (Jana Rozentala un Rudolfa Blaumana muzejs) is located on the top floor. The flat is filled with household effects and Rozentals’ paintings of early 20th-century Riga, his family and friends and their holidays in Finland.
Central Market
Beyond the railway station are the five 20-metre (66ft) high Zeppelin hangars, built by the Germans in Vainode, southwestern Latvia, in World War I and brought here in the 1920s to house the Central Market (Centraltirgus) – one of the real wonders of Riga.
The city’s market had for three and a half centuries been sited beside the Daugava and even then it was one of the largest in the Baltic region. It must still be a contender for the title of Europe’s largest market, with more than 3,000 vendors. It is built over a large underground storage system, and each hangar has its speciality: meat, dairy products, vegetables and seafood. Cream is sold in plastic bags, there are barrels of sauerkraut, fancy cakes, pickled garlic, dried herbs and mushrooms, smoked fish and whole stalls selling nothing but tins of sardines.
